FORT GREENE — The District 13 Community Education Council is asking the Department of Education to keep any further Success Academies from opening in the district.
At a Tuesday meeting, CEC 13 unanimously passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on any further Success Academies following reports that the charter school network has been weeding out students deemed too difficult to remain in the system.
In the resolution, the CEC says it is concerned about the welfare of all children in District 13 following a New York Times investigation published in October that found that some administrators had singled out students they wanted to see leave.
At Success Academy in Fort Greene, sixteen students were included in a list titled “Got to Go,” which was drawn up at Principal Candido Brown’s direction, according to the Times.
Brown told the Times in an email that he thought the students’ disruptive behavior was dragging the school down and that he felt he “couldn’t turn the school around if these students remained.”
The CEC said it invited Success Academy representatives to attend a Dec. 8 working session to discuss the report, but that representatives instead sent a letter the same day of the session that failed to address the council’s concerns.
The council said two parents from the Fort Greene Success Academy did attend the Dec. 8 session and provided testimony confirming the practices outlined in the New York Times article.
In the resolution passed this week, the CEC is asking all charter school operators applying to move into District 13 to present a detailed plan for how they handle discipline, suspensions and expulsions, including the role of parents in the discipline process.
The council is also asking the DOE, together with SUNY, which dispenses the charter schools, to perform a full quality review of Success Academy in Fort Greene, and if necessary, for SUNY to revoke its charter to operate.
“Community Education Council 13 does not believe that Success Academy Fort Greene is presently acting in the best interest of the families, parents, and students of District 13,” reads the resolution.
In an email statement, a spokesman for Success Academy said the charter has received “overwhelming support for District 13 parents, who are demanding high-quality schools.”
“More than 800 children who live in the district were entered into our admissions lottery last year. There are already 300 District 13 families who are part of our community. We work with them every day and will continue to do so until their kids graduate from college,” said spokesman Brian Whitley.
The DOE, which gave the go-ahead this week to open a new Success Academy in Bed-Stuy, said it is "investing in all our public schools" to meet the needs of each student.
"All families should have access to a wealth of great school options, and we are investing in all our public schools to ensure that parents have choices they need to meet the unique needs of their child," spokesman Harry Hartfield said in an email statement. "We want every child to get the education they need to succeed.”
Members of the CEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding their written resolution.
