LOWER EAST SIDE — Controversial charter school chain Success Academy is moving forward with plans to relocate a proposed new outpost to the Lower East Side or East Village in August 2015, its CEO revealed in a letter sent to elected officials and local education leaders.
"I am writing to inform you that Success Academy Charter Schools — NYC ('Success Academy') has been approved by the Trustees of the State University of New York to open a new public charter school in Manhattan that we plan to locate in Community School District I ('New Success Academy')," Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz wrote in an Oct. 20 letter to City Councilwoman Margaret Chin.
District 1 covers the Lower East Side and the East Village. Moskowitz did not include the proposed address of the school in her letter.
The new school would “serve low-income and/or mixed-income populations” within the district, including English language-learners and students with special education needs, Moskowitz said in the letter.
Success Academy plans to open the new school to kindergarteners and first graders first — and then add a grade each year until it serves students up to their senior year of high school, according to Moskowitz's letter.
By its fifth year of operation, the charter school network expects to have 600 to 675 students enrolled in the school, Moskowitz said.
Kindergarteners would be in class from 7:45 a.m. until 4 p.m., while first graders would stay until 4:30 p.m., except for one day each week, when they would leave at 12:45 p.m. so teachers could participate in professional development, she said in the letter.
The curriculum would include “daily reading, writing, math and exploratory-based instruction, as well as chess, art, sports, and frequent field studies, among other offerings,” Moskowitz wrote.
Success Academy officials did not respond to a request for comment.
But charter school officials previously said the network reevaluated “a number of factors” in choosing the site, including demand, the number of schools it already has in the area and available facilities.
"It just made sense for us to look at [Districts] 1 and 6," said Ann Powell, the charter school network’s senior managing director of public affairs, said in an interview earlier this month.
Chin said she was concerned about Success Academy's move into the district.
"The prospect of a Success Academy charter school co-locating in School District 1 amid our ongoing overcrowding concerns is alarming. The fact that it could be coming in with virtually no community review is also deeply disturbing," she said.
Chin added that she is working to give parents and education leaders "a legitimate voice in this process."
Moskowitz's letter is the latest in a long line of what critics call a confusing and inconsistent process of approving a charter school location in NYC.
Earlier this month, the state's charter school regulator, SUNY Charter Schools Institute approved Success Academy's charter school application for a new elementary school located in District 2 — which covers Lower Manhattan, much of the west side and the Upper East Side.
SUNY officials said subsequently that the charter could move wherever it wanted in the borough once it had gotten approval to open in any Manhattan district.
The school's apparent approval on the SUNY website earlier this month created confusion and concern among parents, education advocates and elected officials.
SUNY spokesman David Doyle insisted the state had approved Success Academy's school for District 2, but a document briefly posted on its website showed that the school was slated for either District 1 or Upper Manhattan's District 6.
After DNAinfo pointed out the apparent conflict, SUNY took down the posting and amended it to say District 2.
Doyle insisted the initial document was incorrectly posted due to an "administrative error."
Success Academy has not submitted a formal request to amend their District 2 charter, but did indicate it would pursue an amendment to allow it to open in District 1, Doyle said this week.
He added that unlike during the first round of approval, there is nothing in the state requirements that would compel the school to get parent feedback about the move.
"Once a charter is approved there is nothing in the statute that dictates additional public input, however in order to fully inform the trustees, the Institute can request additional information beyond what is required, as we are doing in this particular case," Doyle said in a statement.
"The Institute asked Success to initiate community outreach in District 1, part of which would include letters to various members of the community," he added.
Groups looking to amend their charter typically contact the Charter Schools Institute to inform them of what they would like to change, Doyle said. Schools then submit a formal request after following the institute's recommended modifications, he said.