By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Success Charter Network has set its sights on a different Upper West Side school, a District 3 leader said.
The network's plan to expand into the neighborhood and open a new school called Upper West Success Academy has drawn protests from residents and elected officials.
Success Charter Network, which runs several charter schools including Harlem Success Academy, originally wanted to open the new school inside P.S. 145 on West 105th Street.
But now District 3 Community Education Council President Noah Gotbaum says the charter school is considering P.S. 165 on West 109th Street instead.
In an e-mail sent to District 3 parents Wednesday morning, Gotbaum said P.S. 145 leaders informed him that Success Charter Network wasn't planning to open its Upper West Success Academy there anymore.
Gotbaum said the shift to P.S. 165 was "decidedly bad news" for the neighborhood.
"We would still stand to lose up to 300 - 400 sorely needed (District 3) seats over the next few years from an Upper West Success co-location," Gotbaum wrote. "P.S. 165 also would be at risk of getting squeezed out of its own building by Upper West Success, much in the same way that P.S. 241 has been marginalized by Harlem Success IV, and P.S. 149 by Harlem Success I."
Gotbaum says he'll continue to fight Success Charter Network's expansion.
A Department of Education spokesman said "no decisions had been made yet" about which Upper West Side school will share space with Upper West Success Academy.
"We are committed to finding a location for Success Academy and are exploring options for a proposal now," said DOE spokesman Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld.
Success Charter Network spokeswoman Jenny Sedlis said it's up to DOE to decide where Success Charter Network will open its Upper West Side school.
She disputed the idea that the charter school will take seats away from District 3 students.
While Upper West Success Academy can accept applications from children across the city, Sedlis said the school will give preference to local students and is intended to be a "neighborhood school."
"We intend to be part of the solution to District 3 overcrowding," Sedlis said. "We're creating new seats for Upper West Side families."
Success Charter Network says its expansion into the Upper West Side will bring high-quality public education to a district that needs it.
"There's overwhelming parent demand for this school and for more options on the Upper West Side," Sedlis said in an e-mail.
Success Charter Network's first school, Harlem Success Academy I on West 118th Street, scored better on the DOE's 2009-10 school progress reports than both P.S. 199 and the well-regarded P.S. 87.
P.S. 145 parents recently rallied outside the school to protest the charter network's possible move into their building. City Councilwoman Gale Brewer and State Sen. Bill Perkins have also spoken out against the plan, which Perkins termed "a hostile takeover."
