Schools spared from closing in New York City see their enrollment drop

From The New York Daily News: Nineteen New York City public schools that have been kept open by court order now have small staffs, fewer students and other bleak changes. The city wanted to shutter the low-performing schools, but the teachers union and the NAACP went to court to keep them open for at least one more year.

JULY 2010...from The New York Times: The New York City Department of Education and the city teachers’ union have reached an agreement on how to fit 16 new and expanding schools into space occupied by 19 existing schools. Those 19 schools had been slated to close because of poor performance, but a court ruling in a lawsuit gave them a reprieve. The city already had promised space in the closing schools’ buildings to the new schools. The agreement calls for nine of the 16 schools to open in the promised locations, alongside some of the saved schools. Five of the schools found new locations. One of the planned new schools, Public School 747, will not open at all this fall. Another, Kappa International High School, has reduced its enrollment and will remain at its current site. EARLIER...from The New York Times: A New York state appellate court has ruled that New York City must keep open 19 schools it wanted to close for poor performance. The ruling upheld a lower court finding that the city’s Education Department did not comply with a state law on mayoral control of the city schools because it failed to adequately notify the public about the ramifications of the closings. Because many eighth graders assumed the schools would be closed and the city discouraged them from attending the schools, few applied. Some of the schools could begin September with just a few dozen freshmen. APRIL 2010...from The New York Daily News: The future of three high schools in the Queens borough of New York City is up in the airafter a judge shot down the city's plan to shutter 19 schools. The Education Department has filed an appeal to fight last week's ruling. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Lobis' decision could also affect the four new schools that were to replace Jamaica High School, Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park and the Business, Computer Applications and Entrepreneurship High School in Cambria Heights. MARCH 2010...from The New York Times: A judge has blocked the closing of 19 New York City public schools for poor performance, finding the city engaged in "significant violations" of the new state law governing mayoral control of city schools. The city will have to start over in making its case to close the schools, this time, the judge says, with "meaningful community involvement." Unless the decision is overturned, it will most likely means that all the schools will remain open for at least another year. The law requires the closing process to begin at least six months before the start of the next school year.