For the first time on Friday, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black visited one of the schools she’s planning to close.
Black spent Friday at I.S. 195, Roberto Clemente, a Harlem middle school that the city is trying to shutter this year. She also visited KIPP Infinity, a high-performing charter middle school located in the same building.
The city plans to replace I.S. 195, whose progress report score dropped from a B to a D last year, with a new middle school. According to an internal space planning document (pdf) obtained by the New York Times, the city wants to install a new charter school in the building, possibly a replica of Democracy Prep.
I.S. 195 is the first school Black has seen that received anything lower than a C grade. Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Black’s appointment in November, she has visited 28 schools, spanning every borough and grade. Of those schools, 11 were given A’s in the most recent round of progress reports. Nine of the schools received B grades and five received C’s.
Since she started visiting schools, Black has fielded questions over whether an itinerary so focused on high-performing schools has given her a realistic view of the challenges facing the school system. On her first official day as chancellor, a city spokeswoman said that while Black had not yet visited any of the city’s lowest-rated schools, she planned to.
I.S. 195 is also one of about 500 schools that Black announced will receive extra funds to tutor students who failed last year’s math and reading tests. Black’s visit to the school last week was unrelated to today’s announcement, Department of Education spokeswoman Deirdrea Miller said.
This list, released by the DOE today, is the complete list of schools Black has visited to date.
