Ed. note: This is an updated version of a story that appears in the March 22-April 4 edition of the Norwood News, which is being distributed today and tomorrow.

Amid a backdrop of plummeting test scores, gang problems and a bitter showdown between the teachers union and the Department of Education, Middle School 80 in Norwood is facing closure and a complete overhaul of its staff and administration.

If the overhaul plan is approved, MS 80, and 32 other city public schools, will undergo a dramatic re-organization that will include replacing its administration, at least 50 percent of its current staff and undergoing a name change. Students who have not graduated before the start of the next school year will be given a guaranteed seat in the new school.

The DOE has already moved to replace Lovey Mazique-Rivera, MS 80’s principal since 2004. A new acting principal, Lauren Reiss, was introduced on Monday.

The Panel for Education Policy still needs to approve the re-organization, but based on recent history, that appears to be a formality. The PEP rarely rejects a DOE-recommended re-organization plan.

The DOE has designated MS 80, a 650-seat school on Mosholu Parkway that has been dogged by gang problems and low state scores, for the federal “turnaround” program. The designation would allow the school to again receive extra state funding that was being withheld because the city and the United Federation of Teachers, the largest teachers union in the country, have not been able to come to an agreement over teacher evaluations.

MS 80’s recent scores on state math and reading tests have dropped them into the lowest 5 percent of state schools. Last year, in response to its lagging test scores, the DOE tagged MS 80 as a “re-start” school, which paired it with an outside education organization and gave it the injection of state funding.

But two weeks ago, with an eye on keeping the increased state funding in place — a total of $1.8 million over the next two years was cut off in January — the DOE decided to scrap the re-start model and put MS 80 into the turnaround program.

In addition to securing increased funding, DOE officials say the turnaround program will allow failing schools like MS 80 to get a fresh start, while still retaining the teachers and programs that work.

Opponents of the turnaround program and the DOE’s handling of struggling of schools in general, say students will suffer because of the jarring shifts in faculty and programming and that the agency continues to ignore parental and community input.

Last week, the Bronx Borough President’s Office organized a public meeting with Elaine Gorman, the new director of the city’s turnaround program. Gorman will be tasked with overseeing the rebuilding of 33 city schools, including 10 in the Bronx.

Cecilia Donovan, the president of MS 80’s parent’s association, said she felt the school was showing signs of improvement and attended the meeting to express her frustration with the pace of all the changes.

“Everything is happening very, very, very fast,” she told Gorman.

Donovan said her daughter is doing well at MS 80, but is now concerned about what’s going to happen to her principal and teachers.

Donovan said the timing of the turnaround designation, as the city and teacher’s union remain deadlocked in contentious negotiations, makes her and other parents skeptical about the DOE’s motivations and whether they really have the students’ best interests in mind.

“The children are the greatest pawn in all of this,” she said.

Donovan was one of only a handful of parents in attendance at the meeting at Morris High School in Morrisania, which Gorman said she volunteered to attend.

Gorman, a 43-year veteran of public school education in Maryland and New York, was working in the DOE’s Office of Innovation before agreeing to take over the turnaround program a month ago. She said her office will consist of her and a special assistant. She listened thoughtfully to Donovan and others express their frustration and tried to bring clarity to a confusing situation. She agreed to visit MS 80 and other schools coming under her watch to better understand what’s working and what isn’t.

“If you want me out again, I’ll be out again,” Gorman said. “I will come as often as you want.”

Gorman said a hiring committee, made up of the new administration, students, parents and others in the school community, will be created. Every teacher at MS 80 who wants to stay at the new school will have to re-apply for their old jobs. A maximum of 50 percent of the old staff can be retained. Any programs that have proven effective would be kept, Gorman said.

MS 80, a school with a high percentage of English Language Learners, is one of the only schools in the Bronx that has a bilingual education program, which allows students to learn in both English and Spanish.

“If the bilingual program is working, then it should be kept,” Gorman said.

Despite Gorman’s reassurances, skepticism about the turnaround plan was rampant at the meeting.

“We’ve had enough with the experimentation,” said Monica Major, the borough’s president’s education director.

Wilfredo Pagan, the borough president’s representative on the Panel for Education Policy, said closing and re-opening schools still isn’t getting to the root of the problems schools like MS 80 face, including large class sizes and a lack of resources.

“You’re putting a patch on a wound that actually needs stitches,” Pagan told Gorman.

Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo showed up long enough to blast the DOE for only seeking parental and community input after making decisions.

“The way the DOE handles transitions with our schools is horrible,” she said. “Parents are always the last to know what happens with their school.”

Ed. note: A joint public hearing for this proposal is scheduled for April 16 at 6 p.m. at J.H.S. 80, 149 East Mosholu Parkway. Oral comments can be left at (212) 374-5149, and written comments can be sent to D10proposals@schools.nyc.gov.

CAP: Elaine Gorman, the director of the city’s new turnaround program who spoke with parents at a meeting last week, is overseeing the overhaul of 33 city schools, including MS 80.
Photo by Alex Kratz

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.