By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — After nearly a year of wrangling between parents and the city, the Department of Education has pledged not to squish the Clinton School for Writers and Artists into a school with special needs children that could set already disadvantaged children back.
Instead, Clinton School will be moved under the city’s latest plan into St. Michael’s Academy at 425 W. 33rd St. as part of a seven-year, $11.2-million lease for the property, according to a newly-released environmental impact statement. The property will be leased from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
“This deal is a winner for everyone,” said Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Department of Education, on Friday. “Thanks to a newly available site and tremendous cooperation from the Archdiocese … the Clinton school will have a new temporary space while we build its permanent home.”
The temporary move is part of the city’s broader plans to alleviate overcrowding, namely at P.S. 11 in Chelsea where the Clinton School is currently housed.
Clinton School is slated to permanently move to 10 E. 15th St. by fall 2015.
The city’s original plan released on Jan. 8 had the school moving into P.S. 33, which would displace a special needs school located in the building, much to the ire of parents and education activists.
A revised option proposed on March 5 would see the Clinton School relocate into the American Sign Language and English Secondary School that educators and parents also felt could harm a special-needs population.
“The two previous plans were just ridiculous where they had to throw out or cramp existing students at schools for the handicapped,” said Clinton School parent, William Menking. “We’re thrilled with the new option.
“We were never upset about moving, we just wanted a situation that worked and this does.”
The space at St. Michael’s was made available after the 136-year-old school at the location announced in late March that it would close at the end of the year due to enrollment drops and budgetary constraints, according to a media release put out by the school.
Students from St. Michael’s were encouraged to apply to Cathedral High School, located at 350 East 56th Street, and Saint Jean Baptiste, located at 173 East 75th Street, for next year’s class.
The Panel for Education Policy will render a final vote on the plan on June 22.
