PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Parents, local leaders and elected officials took their quest to push the city to use a proposed school to be built inside the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park complex for middle school students one step further this week, launching a petition to back it.
The newly-created group, “M.S. OneBrooklyn,” dedicated solely to lobbying the Department of Education and School Construction Authority to create a “world class” middle school at the proposed site, held a press conference outside P.S. 9 Tuesday morning.
“A larger, freestanding middle school in District 13 really does not exist anymore,” David Goldsmith, president of Community Education Council 13, said at the press conference. ”M.S. One could be that one part of a puzzle that we want to put together that will create some great opportunities for children.”
Parents have been expressing concerns about the 616-seat school, set to be located inside a private residential building on Dean Street and Sixth Avenue. It's currently intended to serve students in Kindergarten through eighth grade, according to an original proposal by the School Construction Authority announced in mid-May.
The members of the M.S. OneBrooklyn coalition — including CEC 13, Community Board 8, the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and the P.S. 9 PTO — asked parents and residents in Prospect Heights and throughout the school district to sign the group’s petition formally asking Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina to make the yet-to-be-named school for middle school students.
“A dedicated middle school accessible to all students in our District will not only provide needed additional middle school seats, but it will increase the diversity and stability of our elementary schools, too,” the petition reads.
The group is also asking to be a part of creating the academic and extracurricular focus of the school, specifying that high-quality art instruction, STEM-focused studies and a dual-language program should be provided.
The M.S. OneBrooklyn group has the support of several local elected officials, including Council Member Laurie Cumbo, assembly members Walter Mosley and Jo Anne Simon and Public Advocate Letitia James — all of whom cheered the idea of a middle school on Tuesday.
“Today, we are really not asking a lot. All that we are simply asking is that this be a thoughtful proposal and that we be part of the conversation — that we establish a model that empowers and that includes parents,” James said.
Department of Education officials said in a statement, "We welcome feedback from stakeholders throughout the community and we are engaged in an ongoing dialogue on how to best meet the needs of families. Plans for this school are under review."
The petition is available at msonebrooklyn.com.
