A frustrated Success Academy parent delivered a petition with 11,000 signatures to City Hall Thursday, demanding classroom space in southeastern Queens.
The charter school network contends that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department of Education are purposefully withholding seats for elementary school kids in Queens who need middle school accommodations next year and beyond.
Whanda Thercellya, who has three kids in the network’s Rosedale elementary school, said her kids are in danger of being left educationally stranded if City Hall does not take action.
“It’s so unfortunate that they continue to say that they care about the children — yet here is a model that is clearly working and they refuse to allow us to continue on that path,” she said.
More than 11,000 Success Academy parents and backers signed a petition demanding action from the de Blasio administration.
The network said city officials have failed to respond to their concerns despite hundreds of phone calls and complaints.
“Without a middle school location, up to 200 fifth graders will be forced to leave Success Academy next year and return to zoned schools where less than half of students are able to read or do math,” the network said in a statement.
DOE officials said Thursday that they are following a routine timeline in assessing Success Academy’s request and that they are overstating their grievance.
“Success Academy will have the middle school space it needs in Queens next year, either in public space or in private space with rental assistance provided under state law,” said spokeswoman Danielle Filson. “Our standard timeline is to have conversations in the fall with communities about district needs and priorities, as well as possible changes to school space, and present proposals after a thorough engagement process.”
The network said city officials promised to provide space in 2017 but have yet to fulfill that pledge.
After handing over the petition to a City Hall official Thursday, Thercellya touted Success Academy’s top-tier academic metrics and said parents in areas with poorly performing public schools are starved for alternatives.
“To know that our children in urban neighborhoods are excelling and performing just as well as children with more opportunities — as a parent you hope to have your children placed in that atmosphere,” she said.
Success Academy critics have long accused the operator of siphoning resources from public schools, using excessive discipline and pruning problematic students to keep scores soaring.
Backers have countered that the network’s schools serve as academic oases in low-income areas.