A crowd of about 200 community leaders, elected officials and N.A.A.C.P. members turned out Thursday night to oppose the city’s plan to phase out the middle grades of Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Harlem.
A crowd of about 200 community leaders, elected officials and N.A.A.C.P. members turned out Thursday night to oppose the city’s plan to phase out the middle grades of Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Harlem.
In an unusual display of force, members of the District 3 Community Education Council and the school leadership teams spent about an hour grilling the city’s chief academic officer, Shael Polakow-Suransky, about the controversial decision, before the public comment period even began.
Annette Nanton, Wadleigh’s PTA president, asked what the city had done to help the struggling middle school before its annual progress report fell to a D last year. Only 16 percent of students were proficient in English and 26 percent were proficient in math.
Mr. Polakow-Suransky said the school’s network had invested $3,500 in professional development for teachers, which reduced suspensions, and also helped teachers make better use of Smartboards. He also said several students were invited to attend the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in Harlem dinner and presented their own student empowerment conference to combat bullying.
But a teacher, Anthony Klug, told Mr. Suransky, “In the morning either I’m going to wake up a liar or, respectfully, you are, sir.”
“Last year all I saw was discouragement from the D.O.E.,” Mr. Klug said. “The supports you mentioned simply did not happen.” He added that the school had only two guidance counselors for a student body of 600, including the high school, and that middle school students lost a dedicated math coach and gym classes because of budget cuts.
“It is not difficult to close a school. It is the easiest thing you can do. What’s difficult is to assist a school,”….
“It is not difficult to close a school. It is the easiest thing you can do. What’s difficult is to assist a school,” he said to thunderous applause.
The school’s principal, Herma Hall, said in an interview that she didn’t recall getting $3,500 in professional development.
The school now spans grades 6 to 12 and has 525 students. Under the city’s plan, it would lose grades 6 through 8, which would effectively shut off the pipeline of students to the high school.
Mr. Polakow-Suransky said officials met with members of the school community and determined it wasn’t possible to significantly change the performance of the middle school. He stated that only 84 students were currently enrolled in grades 6 to 8, a sign of low community interest, and that officials didn’t believe the school had the capacity to improve. Instead, they thought time and resources were better spent helping Wadleigh’s high school, which also earned a D.
They also expressed concerns that the plan to close the middle grades was really about making more space for a Success Academy charter school to move into the building.
Many audience members were skeptical, grumbling “not yet” when the deputy chancellor said there were no plans to close the high school. They also expressed concerns that the plan to close the middle grades was really about making more space for a Success Academy charter school to move into the building.
City officials say there is plenty of space in the building, which is why they approved plans for the charter long before they decided to truncate Wadleigh Secondary. The building is also home to Frederick Douglass Academy II and a small transfer school.
Wadleigh is a century-old institution with large rooms for art, dance and music. It was temporarily closed for renovations around 1990. Some community members recalled that the city made a promise to turn it into a flagship school upon its reopening in 1993.
State Senator Bill Perkins questioned Mr. Polakow-Suransky on whether any community leader expressed support for the plan to shrink Wadleigh. The deputy chancellor said the decision was based on academics but conceded that there was no local support.
When Mr. Perkins again asked him about the solid opposition in the school’s auditorium Thursday, Mr. Polakow-Suransky stated, “I have heard that loud and clear tonight.”
Editor’s note: Like the real estate debacle, are we foreclosing on our public schools too early, what do you think?
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It is time for parents in Black communities of Harlem and elsewhere to take control of their children’s education. Period! There is no excuse for only 16 percent of students to be proficient in English and 26 percent were proficient in math in middle school. How did these levels get like this and the children were able to pass elementary school? I have worked briefly with our children as a tutor and a teacher and the situation is and has been deplorable! Our children need more enrichment activities instead of video games, watching all of the garbage that is on television. By middle school, every child should have the basics down pact. My mother used to give us extra work to do besides homework plus bought us a set of encyclopedias and taught us how to do research when we were in elementary school. What Black people need to understand is no gives a hoot about you or your children so you might as well make sure your children are educated yourself.
Thank you,
HW