Success Academy Hollis Middle School offi cials, parents
demand mayor fi nd permanent home for Queens students
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
After pleading for a permanent
home for its 150 students last week,
Success Academy officials announced
on Monday, March 15 that Mayor Bill
de Blasio missed a critical deadline to
extend Success Academy’s Hollis Middle
School co-location at I.S. 238 Susan
B. Anthony Academy for another year.
According to officials, the de Blasio
administration had until March 12 to
post a new Building Utilization Plan 45
days before the April 28 Panel for Educational
Policy meeting. Without a solution,
officials say, the students do not
have a home for the 2021-2022 school
year, leaving them in limbo yet again.
Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of
Success Academy, joined parents and
students from Success Academy Hollis
Middle School in a Zoom conference
call on Wednesday, March 10 demanding
that the mayor find a permanent
home for the students whom they said
would be evicted from the one-year
temporary co-location at I.S. 238 Susan
B. Anthony Academy.
Disrupted by the pandemic, the students
had never set foot in a classroom,
according to Moskowitz. In the intervening
nine months, Moskowitz says
the city has not found a permanent location
for them and is now threatening
to evict them.
“Mr. Mayor, now is not the time
for politics,” Moskowitz said. “Our
parents have been advocating for four
long years to ensure that their children
have a first-rate education — and
now their children are about to be
kicked out of their school. Mr. Mayor,
you have options, and now is the time
to make this right.”
Success Academy operates 47
schools in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan
and Queens and enrolls about
20,000 students. In Queens, parents of
2,200 Success Academy students have
been pleading with the city for years for
an additional permanent middle school
site. Since 2017, parents have sent thousands
of emails, secured thousands of
signatures on petitions, and met with
many Queens elected officials — all in
an attempt to get the mayor to be accountable
to their children.
Three parents expressed their frustrations
and concerns during the conference,
questioning why they can’t get
the space they need for their children
to learn.
Yvesnande Bureau said her two children
are looking forward to returning
to school after learning remotely, however,
to not have a building is simply
devastating.
“My child has to struggle every
year for space to learn. Why can’t they
let our kids learn? Why can’t Mayor de
Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy (upper right) joined parents and students from Success Academy Hollis
Middle School in a Zoom conference call.
Blasio give them the space they need?”
Bureau said. “These are Queens kids.
These are our kids. Why is this so
difficult?”
According to Tricia Porte, if they
were to relocate the students to another
school, it would be difficult for her
daughter to travel across town both
ways.
“We just want to be in one place for
the duration of her school years, so
she can focus effectively on her studies,”
Porte said. “The kids need space
to interact with each other, to play and
study comfortably, and to thrive towards
a better society without having
to think about school space.”
Meanwhile, Judith Nephew said
she cannot stress enough the pain and
frustration that her family are faced
with knowing that after so many years
of waiting, that they might not have
a school for her son and other kids to
attend this August.
“Moving forward, we can’t even
make any plans because our future is
so uncertain right now,” Judith said.
“We are pleading to you, Mr. Mayor,
to kindly step up and consider us. Our
kids need a school and we need to go
back to work.”
While this year has been challenging,
Success Academy Principal Kayleigh
Maines said their scholars have
been successful and feel a true sense
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | MARCH 19-MARCH 25, 2021
of pride and connection to the Hollis
school.
“They smile every morning when
they log onto advisory links. They
love to show what they know in their
classes, and they jump at the opportunity
to shine as a Hollis Husky — from
co-hosting the middle school morning
show to participating in virtual pep
rallies and joining afternoon study
sessions,” Maines said.
Success Academy’s attorney Laura
Asserfea said under the Charter
Schools Act, the Department of Education
must provide and pay for all school
facilities. According to Moskowitz, the
mayor has three viable options:
Let the students remain co-located
at I.S. 238 Susan B. Anthony
Academy for another year: There is
enough room for all students, including
those from a new school slated to
open in 2021-22.
Co-locate the students in a different
district school: About 43,000
students have left NYC district schools
since the pandemic hit last spring.
Based on the most recent building utilization
analysis, which was done prior
to the pandemic, there are a number of
buildings with 300 or more empty seats
in the three nearby school districts
(CSDs 27, 28, 29).
Co-locate the students in a privately
owned space: The city currently
leases privately owned buildings for
numerous district and charter schools,
including six other SA schools, and
there’s no reason why it can’t be done
for SA Hollis MS.
In March 2020, the DOE announced
that I.S. 238 was a one-year temporary
proposal and they encouraged Success
Academy to work with the department
on a viable, fiscally responsible longterm
plan to ensure their students
have reliable alternative permanent
options.
According to the DOE, Success
Academy had failed to do this and in
order to ensure their students had permanent
options, the department identified
multiple suitable buildings they
could lease. However, Success Academy
did not pursue those locations
despite the pressing time constraints.
“They have refused to even try
where over 100 other charters have
succeeded and the DOE space that
Success Academy had temporary access
to is slated — by law — to be used
for high-needs special education students
in Queens,” DOE Deputy Press
Secretary Katie O’Hanlon said in a
statement to QNS. “Everyone has been
aware of this for the past 12 months—
we prioritized in-person learning for
our most vulnerable D75 students and
we cannot and will not leave these
families hanging.”
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