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Principal of 'Persistently Dangerous' UWS School to Speak With Community

By Emily Frost | October 14, 2015 6:16pm
 The principal of P.S. 191 will speak at a community meeting Thursday.
The principal of P.S. 191 will speak at a community meeting Thursday.
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DNAinfo/Emily Frost

UPPER WEST SIDE — The principal of a school controversially deemed "persistently dangerous" by the state will speak at a community meeting Thursday.

Principal Lauren Keville, who leads the K-8 elementary school P.S. 191 on West 61st Street, will talk to the public at Community Board 7's Youth, Education and Libraries committee meeting held at the school Thursday evening.

This summer, P.S. 191 was slapped with a "persistently dangerous" label by the state's Education Department based on two years of incident reports.

In light of the label, children who were waitlisted at P.S. 199 and instead offered spots at P.S. 191 were told they could go to other surrounding schools, including P.S. 452 and P.S. 87 — a move critics said did not help P.S. 191's reputation.

Since then the school, led by the PTA, has tried to fight the label to show it was wrongfully handed down, but the state Education Department has said an appeal is not possible this school year. 

The news came as a tough blow for a school that's tried to redefine itself, first as a magnet school and more recently through its new multimedia lab and arts programming. 

As Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal put it, "once you're on the [persistently dangerous] list, your reputation is shot."

The public session Thursday is a way of letting parents and community members see another side of the school.

Along with Keville, P.S. 191 teachers and PTA members will explain "PS 191's educational philosophy, vision, teaching approach and curriculum," the board stated in a notice regarding the meeting.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 191, 210 W. 61st St. at Amsterdam Avenue. 

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