4 JUNE 8, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM Parents of MVP Charter School plan rallies to try to keep school open BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT The parents of Middle Village Preparatory Charter School (MVP) will not let the school go down without a fi ght. Hoping to convince the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens to drop the lawsuit against Christ the King High School and its board of trustees that would require the secular charter school on its campus to close, parents of MVP students are planning to hold a pair of rallies in June, one outside the diocese’s offi ce in Brooklyn and another outside of the Queens County Court in Jamaica. The fi rst rally was held yesterday, Wednesday, June 7, where parents, and students of MVP — with properly fi lled out permission slips — will rally outside of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens offi ce at 310 Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The second rally is set to bring parents and students to the steps of the Queens County Court located at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica, on Tuesday, June 13 — the day the court is expected to hear oral arguments regarding the lawsuit. Details about departure time and location will be updated in the days leading up to the rally. Organizers ask that parents who want to bring their children to the event fi ll out the offi cial permission slip to return to the school as an RSVP so an accurate number of participants can be recorded to provide the correct number of T-shirts, posters for ralliers and proper information can be given to the bus companies and the appropriate police departments. “First and foremost, we want them to know we want to open dialogue between the parents of MVP and the diocese,” said Claudia Valdes, a parent organizer with MVP. “Second, we would like to respectfully request the diocese drop the lawsuit so we can keep the school open and we can continue the course of education for over 400 students, otherwise it would adversely aff ect that many students and contribute to the severely overcrowded District 24 school system.” Any participating students are asked to come in their MVP uniform. Any classes missed by students attending the rallies will be excused by teachers. Last week parents created a Twitter page in an attempt to bring awareness of their fi ght to social media. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley penned a letter to Bishop James Massa, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, asking that a new deal be inked that would allow MVP to stay open. “On behalf of my constituents I am writing to urge that a new contract be drawn up that will permit Middle Village Prep to remain open,” Crowley wrote. “It is surprising that SUNY, the partnering organization with the charter school, and the board of trustees of Christ the King moved forward on opening the school if obvious legal barriers existed. To close the school at this point is an injustice to the families that are enrolled as well as the parents scheduled to join the school in September.” Photo by Angela Matua/Ridgewood Times Parents plan to hold two rallies to try and keep Middle Village Prep open come September MEDIA ADVISORY Middle Village Preparatory Charter School will conduct its monthly Board of Trustees Meeting on Wednesday, �������� 1��th. Details are as follows: WHO: Middle Village Preparatory Charter School WHAT: Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting WHEN: Wednesday, �������� 1��, 2017 TIME: 6:00 PM WHERE: Middle Village Prep at Christ the King Campus Campus Conference Room Door # 10 68-02 Metropolitan Avenue Middle Village, NY 11379 All meetings of the Trustees and all committees and subcommittees are conducted with the New York Open Meetings Law (N.Y. Public Officers Law §§ 100-111). Bishop DiMarzio addresses parents of Middle Village charter school during rally BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, came out of the diocese offi ce in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning to directly address the parents and students of Middle Village Preparatory Charter School (MVP) as they rallied to try and keep their school open for this September. When asked if the diocese would consider keeping MVP open while negotiations were taking place, Di- Marzio said that would not happen because the board of trustees at Christ the King High School (CTK) needs to “negotiate now.” “No, there’s no way,” DiMarzio said of keeping the school open past the June deadline. “It’s been seven years we’re working on this. It has to come to a point that they have to negotiate now for September.” Before heading back into the offi ce, DiMarzio assured those who came to rally that the diocese wants to see MVP remain open and continue to fl ourish, but the onus falls on CTK to negotiate with the diocese. “We want to keep your school open but it’s up to the board of Christ the King to negotiate with the diocese because they started the school without permission,” DiMarzio told concerned parents and students. “That’s what the court told us. That’s all we can do is follow what the court told us.” Following the rally, parents were invited inside the diocese offi ces, located at 310 Prospect Park West, for what Diocese spokesperson Carolyn Erstad described in an email as a “very productive” meeting with diocese leaders. Parents of MVP have another rally scheduled for Tuesday, June 13 outside of the Queens County Court at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica. That is the day the court is expected to hear oral arguments regarding the lawsuit.
RT06082017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above