Chancellor orders troubled Brooklyn charter school to close

Chancellor Joel Klein signed an order today to close a Brooklyn charter school that city school officials said had some of the most egregious charter violations they’d ever seen.

In June, East New York Preparatory Charter School will become the fourth charter school to close in the city’s history. In his recommendation to Klein that the school close, Deputy Chancellor John White wrote that although the charter school’s new board members acknowledged prior wrongdoing, many problems remained.

“ENYP has not presented any evidence responding to the findings that lower performing students were being involuntarily transferred from the school or discouraged from attending the school,” White wrote.

Klein’s decision marks an end to a contentious closure process that pitted parents who wanted the school to remain open against city officials charged with making sure the school followed its charter.

That conflict erupted at a public meeting in February, where parents pleaded with the department to keep the school open, saying the neighborhood offered few other viable options and the wait-lists for other charter schools were impossibly long.

Students currently enrolled in East New York Prep will have to transfer to other district or charter schools next year. To ease their transition, the department is offering a new option: a one-year program run out of P.S. 323 that East New York Prep students in grades two through five can opt into. According to DOE charter school office head Michael Duffy, the program will take in 162 students and be run by Andrea Whitehurst, a former principal who monitored the charter school.

Opened in 2006 by principal Sheila Joseph, East New York Prep appeared on the state and city’s radar after parents reported that Joseph was expelling high-needs students. Joseph is also alleged to have given herself a significant raise and created an environment so unstable that Teach for America has told its six corps members they can look for new teaching positions at other schools next year. If they were to leave, East New York Prep would have only two remaining teachers.

Recommendation of John White to Close ENYP

CHANCELLOR KLEIN TO CLOSE EAST NEW YORK PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced he would close East New York Preparatory Charter School at the end of this school year after determining that the school has failed to provide all of its students with a high-quality education and was operating in violation of its charter, Department of Education (DOE) policy, and New York State charter school law. The DOE has been working with families to help place the school’s students in new schools next year. East New York Prep is the fourth charter school to be closed in New York City since charters were first created. “We won’t allow a school to remain open when it persistently fails its students-whether it is a charter or a district school,” Chancellor Klein said. “Unfortunately, East New York Prep failed to meet the standards of its charter and the City’s promise to provide a good education to all public school children. We will work closely with the school’s families to place their children in other nearby district or charter schools where they can receive the education they need and deserve.” The DOE issued East New York Prep a five-year charter in 2005. In February 2009, the school was put on probation in response to charges that it improperly discharged some students and failed to provide adequate special education services. In a subsequent investigation, the DOE determined the school’s board of directors failed to exercise appropriate oversight of the school and its leadership. East New York Prep will remain open until the end of the current school year. The DOE has been working with families to find nearby district and charter schools for their children to attend in the fall. Options include a new one-year program in the same building as East New York Prep that will give families additional time to secure places for their children in another school. The DOE will hold an information session for parents on Thursday, April 22nd, at East New York Prep.