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Volume XVIII • Number 18 • April 7 - 13, 2011 •
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State prepares to pull plug on ‘wacky’ charter school By MIAWLING LAM Cashflow issues and a series of unapproved curriculum and schedule changes could spell the end of a sevenmonth-old Kingsbridge charter school. The New York State Education Department slapped a probation order on the Kingsbridge Innovative Design Charter School last Thursday and threatened to shut it down due to financial and educational mismanagement. Documents reveal the elementary school, located in an old office space on 295 West 231st Street, has struggled to balance its books since opening its doors – 10 days behind schedule – on September 17. According to the probation order, obtained by the Riverdale Review, authorities express concern about the school’s perilous financial state. “The Department’s review indicates that there are a lack of basic financial systems and controls at the school and serious deficiencies in the documentation of expenditures,” it states. “This situation is fiscally unsound and a material and substantial violation of the school’s charter.” State officials also took aim at the school for operat-
ing without a principal since January 4, paying staff and other agencies late and failing to purchase the necessary curriculum and instructional materials for students. The school, which has 150 students, is now on probation until at least May 17 and has been given a 16-point remedial action plan. It must clean up its act and provide enough documentary evidence to satisfy the state by April 29 or face having its charter revoked. KIDS Fonder and Executive Director Julio Cotto said the school has begun to rectify the situation. He said five teachers, five operational staff, and an administrator were laid off in recent weeks to shore up finances. Cotto also revealed he took a voluntary pay cut a couple of months ago and will take another as the school pares down its budget. “Fourteen of the 16 points had already been in motion before that letter was even given,” he said. “The Board actually started its own internal turnaround plan going back to January. The Board, on their own, has already been self-correcting and self-assessing.”
Cotto said on-the-fly decisions made by a former administrator and two former Board members hurt the school. He declined to identify the individuals by name but said the effects of their decisions – such as unapproved curriculum and schedule changes – were still surfacing. “We had an issue where we had some individuals on the Board and in the administration that were making ad-hoc changes,” he said. “The effect of those changes ran deeper than I think anybody realized. Even up until last week, I was still uncovering ad-hoc changes that were being made.” There are currently more than 100 charter schools in New York City. Charter schools are publicly funded schools but operate separately from the district. It is rare for a charter school to be placed on probation so early in its infancy, and even more rare to be threatened with closure. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said he wasn’t surprised the school was being threatened with closure, given its troubled origins. Continued on Page 10
Skate rink RFP raises concerns
By BRENDAN McHUGH The request for proposals for a temporary ice-skating rink in Van Cortlandt Park has been issued by the Department of Parks and Recreation, and many of the same concerns the community has had still remain. While the RFP lists some important information—the length of the season (Oct. 15 to March 30), the available space (two handball courts and four tennis courts near Broadway and 242nd Street), and the type of ice (real, not synthetic)—the plan fails to address significant concerns Community Board 8 has vocalized. Because the parks department is asking for multiple proposals, the RFP does not have much specificity within it, which will allow for interested parties to create their own ideas. This includes the hours of operation, the fees and rates, and maintenance and security of the area. Numerical values have been given to some aspects. There must be at least three portable restrooms and no more than three mobile food units or one temporary food service facility. The RFP asks for proposals to be creative with their food choices and go beyond the typical hot dogs and pretzels. While it does show the fees from other skating rinks in the City, it does not restrain the concessionaire from proposing rates more similar to Midtown ManhatContinued on Page 11
P.S. 81 students celebrate Spirit Day by holding hands and forming a peace sign in the schoolyard. Music teacher Beverly Draper sang ‘All We Are Saying is Give Peace a Chance.’