By Patrick Donachie
A proposed controversial co-location between a public middle school and a charter high school in Queens Village will not be going forward, according to the Panel for Educational Policy.
The PEP’s site indicates that the co-location proposal between the New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities IV and Jean Nuzzi Intermediate School, also known as IS 109, was withdrawn. The PEP was originally scheduled to vote on the proposed co-location this coming Wednesday.
The office of City Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) confirmed that the proposal had been withdrawn. Grodenchik, along with state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-Hollis) and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz publicly opposed the plan and sent a letter to the DOE and PEP May 1 encouraging the organizations to reconsider the co-location.
“All decisions by the DOE to co-locate schools are viewed by communities as the city giving up on the extant traditional public school,” the letter read. “If there are any issues or concerns with IS 109, we firmly believe it is better to invest in its future than to induce significant strain that would come from the addition of 400-plus students of an entire high school.”
IS 109 is located at 213-10-92 Ave., and enrolled approximately 972 students in its most recent school year, according to an Educational Impact Statement drafted by the DOE about the proposed co-location. The charter school would have added an additional 420 to 460 high school students by the 2019-2010 school year, the impact statement said.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
