By Michèle De Meglio
The city Department of Education (DOE) has announced which small schools will be placed in South Shore and Tilden high schools but the news is not music to parents’ ears. That’s because they’re still fuming that educrats made the decision to phase out the two large high schools without consulting the community. As Zakiyyah Ali, a social studies teacher at Tilden, asserted, “Why was our community kept in the dark about the phase out plan? Why was this decision a complete surprise to both the school administration, the staff and elected officials?” Although the DOE hosted town halls to answer parents’ questions about the small school process, city Councilmember Lew Fidler said the meetings were pointless since the decisions to close South Shore and Tilden were already made. And he questioned whether the community’s comments were really taken into consideration by DOE officials at the forums. “You knew what you were picking,” he said of department brass. “You clearly had picked before the hearing.” The DOE maintains that officials did consider the public’s suggestions when finalizing decisions about the placement of small schools. In September, four new small schools will share space at the new South Shore Educational Campus, located at 6565 Flatlands Avenue. One will be Brooklyn Bridge Academy, which is designed for students who have struggled academically or have dropped out of school. The others will focus on liberal arts, theater, and college prep. At Tilden Educational Campus, 5800 Tilden Avenue, two schools will open in the fall. One is paired with Outward Bound, which offers adventure-based education programs that take students on camping trips to develop in them a sense of teamwork, as well as leadership skills. The other is the It Takes a Village Academy, which will work to foster “understanding of and respect for diverse cultures and languages.” The addition of small schools to South Shore’s building leaves Brooklyn Comprehensive Night High School out in the cold. As part of the restructuring plan, the evening school, which helps struggling students or those with full-time jobs earn a high school diploma, will be closed. “We close in June. We’re not even being given three years” to phase out like South Shore and Tilden, asserted Joseph Zwerling, who teaches English and technology at the school.
