Mayor Segarra’s backing out of the Achievement First/Clark School exchange on Friday gave local parents renewed hope in the ability to determine for themselves what happens to their children’s schools, but this news was almost immediately followed by the announcement that America’s Choice at SAND (SAND) is slated to be given over to Steve Perry’s Capital Preparatory Schools Inc. for management.
The SAND school — located in the city’s Clay-Arsenal neighborhood — was previously redesigned in 2009-2010, raising questions about the efficacy of the close-fire-reopen model of school reform. If this proposal is approved, SAND would close at the end of the 2013-2014 school year and reopen as a year-round school.
Perry, the controversial principal of Capital Prep Magnet School, has received a multitude of criticism for everything ranging from missing 20% of school days to his use of social media to his treatment of staff to how the school actually prepares students for college.
As with the proposal to change Clark School into a charter, this proposal to give SAND to Perry has been added to the Board of Education agenda without much notice for the school community. According to sources, parents at SAND were informed last Thursday evening of what could be voted on tonight.
If this process seems rushed and familiar, that’s because it is. Parents at the former Milner School were given late notice when the it was slated to be managed by a charter, and in that case, the December 1st deadline for redesign plans was ignored entirely without repercussion when Milner was closed at the end of school year 2011-2012.
The Board of Education Regular meeting will be held tonight — Tuesday, November 19th at 5:30pm — at the Rawson School, 260 Holcomb Street. There is time for public comment at the start of the meeting.
