Queens lawmakers and dozens of students carrying picket signs rallied last week against the city’s plans to put another school inside the storied yet struggling Martin Van Buren High School.
“We’ve been fighting so hard,” said Councilmember Mark Weprin. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but in the dead of night, in secret, they put a colocation in the school.”
The city’s Department of Education (DOE) has proposed adding a new early college within the Queens Village school to serve grades nine to 14.
Education officials said the Early College and Career Technical Education High School would give students a chance to get a free associate’s degree while in high school.
It would focus on computer science and business technology and give students “real-world work experience” through internships and focus on career readiness, the DOE said.
But students are unwilling to share the already congested 230-17 Hillside Avenue building.
“It’s already crowded as it is,” said Gaitree Boojraj, 16, the school’s junior president. “We don’t need more people in this school.”
The new school would also undo progress Van Buren has made since Principal Sam Sochet took over last June, said Queens legislators, who held another rally in July.
“[Sochet’s] been turning the school around,” said State Senator Tony Avella. “The students are getting the type of education they need. Then, we get a knife in the back. We’re not accepting this. We are not going to let this happen. We’re going to fight until the bitter end.”
Van Buren has improved a full letter grade from a “D” to a “C” under its new leadership, the latest city progress report shows.
“It’s not about one person. It’s about an entire community,” said James Vasquez, the UFT district representative for Queens high schools.
But the community seems to be split.
Leaders from nine of the largest civic associations in eastern Queens, representing thousands zoned to Van Buren, said they supported co-location plans that would “fast track” positive changes.
The early college would “be the catalyst needed” to restore Van Buren’s prior high academic standards, said Mike Castellano, president of Lost Community Civic Association.
More than a decade of decline, the group said, is too much for one principal to quickly fix.
The school would also give its graduating students two years of tuition-free education at Queensborough Community College, the civic leaders said.
“This is a win-win for students, parents and the community, and a huge attraction that will finally begin to raise the four percent local community participation rate,” said Bob Friedrich, president of Glen Oaks Village. “This is a blueprint for success.”
The city will hold a public hearing Wednesday to discuss the plans at the school at 6 p.m.
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