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Volume XVIII • Number 23 • May 12 - 18, 2011 •
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State charges chaos at charter school Regents expected to shut the door on ‘wacky’ Kingsbridge charter
By MIAWLING LAM The handwriting is on the wall at the controversial Kingsbridge Innovative Design Charter School. The eight-month-old school, which has been on probation since March 24, is set to become the city’s first charter school to be shut down in its first year. The grim picture emerged after New York State Education Department officials issued a damning assessment of the school following its response to a 16-point remedial action plan. Authorities had given KIDS 35 days to clean up its act but concluded it sufficiently addressed only two of the 16 issues they raised. In a letter to KIDS Executive Director Julio Cotto dated May 4, officials said they would continue to pursue revocation of the school’s charter. “Despite the school’s submission of materials in response to the probationary remedial action plan, the department continues to have serious concerns about the fiscal stability and management of the school,” it said. “The school has not demonstrated sufficient capacity to operate in a fiscally and educational sound and responsible manner to overcome the serious violations of
law, material and substantial violations of its charter and fiscal mismanagement. Therefore we have determined that it is in the best interests of the students and school community that the charter be revoked.” Officials criticized the school board for its failure to prepare a comprehensive and focused reply to the probation order and for emailing documents in “piecemeal fashion. ”They also took aim at the school for focusing too much on the fiscal situation and “patching together short-term financial fixes for cash flow problems.” However, Cotto remains adamant the school satisfied all 16 points. He said at least four school board members would present an oral argument before the Regents next week and stress the lack of precedence for the action. “No first-year school has been shut down, and schools that have had much bigger challenges have been allowed at least a year, if not two,” he said. “We’ve been able to demonstrate our solvency, and we’ve been able to demonstrate the curriculum and academics. There is learning going on, and despite the challenges of the fall. The charter is being restored.”
Just last week, the Riverdale Review revealed a Taiwanese big-money developer was providing the school with a $400,000 loan so they could stave off closure and occupy their new building. However, with the school expected to close at the end of the current school year, the three-story school will now be vacant. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz met with a group of concerned KIDS parents last Monday and said he felt for the 143 affected students and their families. “I feel really bad for them,” he said.“I particularly feel for the kids, because these kids are five- and six-yearolds, and it’s not their fault that the people running the school are incompetent. “It’s a terrible situation and I place a lot of blame on the misguided polices of the department of education and the incompetence of the people running the school. ”State Department of Education officials will now present their recommendation for revocation before a panel of at least three Board of Regents members on Monday. The full Board of Regents will then vote on the issue on Tuesday.
Borough President slams process for controversial skating rink By BRENDAN McHUGH An amendment to the proposed Van Cortlandt Park ice skating rink from the Department of Parks and Recreation will allow for part of the equipment to be a permanent fixture in the Park. Critics see this as yet another example of the lack of community input in the process. When the parks department and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy first came to Community Board 8 in February, the project was set to be entirely temporary, with the skating rink, electrical equipment, ice chillers, and more removed after the winter season ended in February or March. Now, however, in an addendum to the request for proposals for the development of a rink, the parks department will favorably view proposals “that include the installation of permanent chillers” either inside or outside of the Stadium, adjacent to the tennis courts that the rink will supplant. Two weeks ago, three potential bidders came to a site meeting at Van Cortlandt Park to meet with parks representatives and
ask questions about the site. One of the big issues was the electrical output and available space to put cooling towers. “There’s still a lot left unknown,” Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz said. Dinowitz has been a harsh critic of the parks department recently, saying they should be doing a better job including the community in the conversation about the skating rink. “Once again, the community is not being given all the information the community should be given.” Last week, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. appeared on BronxTalk, where host Gary Axelbank questioned him about the skating rink. “There may be aspects of this that are very disturbing,” Axelbank said. “In Van Cortlandt, I know that there are different personalities that are on either side of the debate,” Diaz said. “And sometimes personalities can cloud a policy issue.” While Diaz said he is very much in favor of an ice skating rink, it’s important to keep in mind the people who have a right
to be involved, he said. “Certainly, when we are doing things in the Bronx from now on, whether it’s the community board, local elected officials, the
borough president, or congress members, we want a direct input,” Diaz said. “We want to be able to have a say-so as to what happens in our borough.”
When Axelbank asked him if the skating rink was a runaway train, Diaz said nothing is ever a done deal, especially with the Continued on Page 19
Sixth-grader Alexander Crowe enjoys the jumping castle during the Israeli Independence Day Fair on Tuesday. Hundreds flocked to Independence Avenue outside Seton Park for entertainment including live music, rides, food and games.