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Borough President Wants Staten Island School for Dyslexic Students

By Nicholas Rizzi | December 14, 2016 5:54pm
 Borough President James Oddo announced plans to open a charter school dedicated to students with dyslexia on Staten Island in 2018.
Borough President James Oddo announced plans to open a charter school dedicated to students with dyslexia on Staten Island in 2018.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

STATEN ISLAND — A charter school dedicated to students with dyslexia could open its doors on Staten Island in 2018.

Borough President James Oddo announced he plans to submit a formal letter of intent to the state for the charter school in January then a full application in March, the Staten Island Advance reported.

Officials hope to open it in 2018, according to an announcement posted on Facebook.

"I believe the weight and the integrity of this proposal will win the day," Oddo said at the announcement.

Oddo also announced that longtime Staten Island educator Tim Castanza, formerly director of planning for the DOE, will serve as the school's executive director.

Earlier this year, Oddo announced he would seek out a charter school dedicated to students with dyslexia after parents complained of a lack of options that has forced some to send their children to New Jersey.

Oddo asked the DOE to build a standalone school to teach students with dyslexia and, when it said it wouldn't, decided he would push for a charter school.

"Ideally the DOE, that can reach out and touch so many of our kids, the DOE needs to doing this," Oddo said at the announcement.

"There is a better way than the current system, than to have 45 Staten Island kids hop on a bus and go to Teaneck, NJ, to have parents have to sue the Board of Ed to go to private schools and independent schools."

Language-based disabilities like dyslexia affect an estimated five to 10 percent of the population, according to a study by Michigan University.

Staten Island parents complained at town hall meetings about the lack of programs for students in the borough, forcing some to sue the DOE to foot the bill for specialized private schools.

While the DOE hasn't been open to creating a standalone school, it opened the first program using the Orton-Gillingham method for teaching students with language-based disabilities this year in P.S. 57 in Clifton.

They also partnered with the Rose Institute for Learning at Manhattanville College to open up seven "lab sites" in schools across the city, according to the DOE.

While Oddo was appreciative of the new programs, he said it wasn't enough for every student in the borough and said a charter school will give parents different options locally.