The planned closure of a predominantly Black and Brown middle school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was postponed last month by the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) due to an outcry from parents at a public hearing.
“Where are our children going to go?” asked Virginia Goodwin, a community member who had several children attending the school. “They keep saying ‘the community, the community.’ Okay, well, help the community. Don’t bring in a program and don’t invite the community to stay because that’s what they’re planning on doing.”
Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School (MS K394) is a small, non-zoned district school serving students in grades K–8, and offering 3K and preK in School District 17. The building also houses the Explore Empower Charter School, which serves grades K– 8 and a total of 515 students.
According to the city’s Department of Education (DOE) Deputy Press Secretary Chyann Tull, the middle school had “significant enrollment challenges” at the co-located K210 school building, which has the capacity to serve almost 960 total students. The enrollment for the community’s school district has been declining overall over the past five years, according to the DOE, leaving MS K394 with only 201 students at the end of 2024. The DOE also said the middle school was one of the lowest-performing schools in the district in English Language Arts (ELA) and math.
Since 2020’s pandemic interrupted learning nationwide, multiple institutions have noted an downturn in young students’ reading and math scores, based on findings from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend (LTT) assessments. The assessments found that across the board, reading scores were lower for both male and female 13-year-olds. In math, scores were lower for Black, Hispanic, and white 13-year-olds; students attending schools in all regions of the country; students both eligible and not eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP); and students at all reported levels of parental education.
In New York City, math scores rose among city public schools while reading scores continued to tick down, according to New York State test results from 2024. The city’s racial education gap, however, remained wide: About 70% of Asian American and 66% of white students were proficient on reading exams compared to only 39% of Black and 36% of Latino students. In math exams, about 80% of Asian American and 72% of white students were proficient compared to 38% of Black and 40% of Latino students.
In short, there are many schools like MS K394 throughout the city’s public school system.
“[MS K]394 is not just a school for us — we’re a family in there,” said MS K394 Parent Teacher Association (PTA) President Aliza Ellison. Both of her children attended the school with Individualized Education Program (IEPs) or special education services. “We all need to be heard. And they saying that our scores are low, that our enrollment is low. Yes, it is, but we’re trying our best to get it back up. You all got to understand that the pandemic took a lot of stuff away from us.”
The intent was to replace the middle school with a Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy (CBLA), which aims to combat student illiteracy, dyslexia, and language-based learning disabilities among Black and Brown students. The CBLA would be a sister school with the South Bronx Literacy Academy (SBLA), the first public school in the city specifically designed to support students with dyslexia, which was co-founded by Naomi Pena and six other parents. Mayor Eric Adams and former Schools Chancellor David Banks endorsed citywide dyslexia screenings and new reading initiatives in an attempt to change reading trends for the city’s kids.
The CBLA is supposed to open with grades 2 and 3 beginning in the 2025–2026 school year and serve about 60 to 80 students. Then the school would gradually phase in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 by the 2030–2031 school year. The co-located charter school in the K210 building will stay open. The proposal was put together by Superintendent Shenean Lindsay and the District 17 Community Education Council (CEC).
“Student and family needs are at the core of all decisions made at New York City Public Schools,” said Tull in a statement. “There has been ongoing engagement with the community at the district and citywide levels to ensure that their concerns are heard. While it’s still in the proposal phase, if approved by the PEP, this will allow for families to be better served at other schools with access to new programs and supports. This also creates the opportunity to bring a new school model to Brooklyn that better meets the needs of the community.”
The possibility of a closure means families will have to find other schools to send their kids to, and the school’s staff and teachers are likely to be relocated. Despite reassurances, though, teachers and staff still fear being fired outright if the closure goes through.
Parents of MS K394 students were informed of the intended closure of their middle school at a meeting in October 2024. Several of them came together to express their “deep concern and outrage” over the proposed closure of the school. They insisted that they hadn’t been given alternative options for their kids’ schooling, and felt it was unfair that their kids wouldn’t benefit from the new reading programs at CBLA.
Leon and Leonica Gidron, who have three children at MS K394, maintain that the proposal makes no sense without bridging the gap between the current students, who are also struggling with reading proficiency, and the new students. “Why relocate kids for new kids to come in for a program that could help everybody?” said Gidron. “I feel like the message you’re giving them is that they’re replaceable.”
Melissa Arristia, a graduate of MSK394, as are her sisters, nieces, and nephews, currently sends her son to the 3K program. “Sending a 3-year-old to school is scary,” Arristia told the Amsterdam News tearfully. “Some of them are not fully potty-trained, some of them can’t talk properly, some of them are underdeveloped … You want a place where you can feel safe with your child. I’ve never had a question about sending my child here, and knowing he’s going to be safe, supported, and he’s going to be okay. That’s important. Those are the things that the numbers are not going to tell you.”
The PEP held a public hearing at Sunset Park High School on Dec. 18, 2024. MS K394 parents, education advocates, teachers, a United Federation of Teachers (UFT) liaison, and Principal Sojourner Welch-David passionately testified against the closure proposal while Lindsey and CEC members testified for it.
“I do understand how you feel and I do want to take a moment to acknowledge that,” said Lindsey in her testimony. “However, despite numerous supports to bolster the test scores, enrollment has been at less than 200 students and attendance … less than 200 students. The school is not making the necessary progress that it needs to.”
Because of the absolute division on the issue between parents and board members, PEP Chairperson Gregory Faulkner opted to table the vote on the closure proposal until 2025. “We’re listening very carefully to the comments that were made and feel that it did warrant an opportunity for further discussion, particularly when we start hearing something that might be harmful to children,” said Faulkner.
The next PEP meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at Clara Barton High School (901 Classon Avenue in Brooklyn).