Photo by José A. Giralt
Students, parents, and teachers at DeWitt Clinton High School are once again being asked to share their campus with another school waiting in the wings.
The new school, known as PS X721 Stephen McSweeney School, is comprised of students diagnosed with autism, intellectual or multiple disabilities as determined by their Individualized Education Program (IEP). The school would be part of District 75 (D75), where students from the district are already enrolled at DeWitt Clinton Campus, albeit in smaller classroom settings.
And with the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), the governing body comprised of mayoral appointees and slated to vote on the proposal on April 17, it’s likely the Norwood campus will see a new student body next September.
Much of the objections don’t stem from a D75 school being placed at the DeWitt Clinton Campus, but rather any school that could further congest the campus and diminish any academic impact the 90-year-old school can foster. The proposal by the city Department of Education (DOE) makes it the third school to arrive to the campus since 2013.
The Clinton Campus already shares its space with three other high schools—Bronx Collaborative High School (10X351), World View High School (10X353), and PS X168 (75X168)—serving students in grades 9 through 12 in an inclusion program. Despite this, the agency argues the school is underutilized, opening the door for another school. Co-locating often involves several high schools sharing common amenities, including a cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasium.
At a joint public hearing by PEP and the Community Education Council (CEC) on April 2, a raucous crowd inside the campus’ auditorium warned that incorporating yet another school would diminish the academic gains and newfound school pride that has been attributed to its principal, Pierre Orbe.
“When I came here about three years ago, we had a target on our backs.” Orbe said. “There was a sense, a feeling, that DeWitt Clinton students were not living up to their potential.”
Performance data from the last three full school years point to significant gains in academic achievement at Clinton. For example, from the 2015-2016 school year to 2017-2018, the four-year graduation rate improved 21 percentage points from 48 to 69 percent. The four-year College Readiness Index—a metric that measures whether a student is academically ready for college—rose from 19 to 42 percent.
Many of those who signed up to speak at the hearing made clear that they do not oppose D75 students sharing existing classes, but are against giving up space to a separate high school within the campus altogether.
Alex Vega, a senior and president of the student body at Clinton, told the dual bodies that the school welcomes D75 students to “our community as one but not separate.”
The DOE sees an opportunity to establish a new high school at the Clinton Campus because of what it deems as “under-utilization” at the building. According to the 2017-2018 Enrollment, Capacity and Utilization Report, also known as the Blue Book, Clinton has the capacity to serve a total of 3,059 students. The total number of students currently attending the four schools is 2,367, yielding a utilization rate of 77 percent. If the new high school is approved with a projected enrollment between 48 to 64 students, the utilization rate will range between 76 to 80 percent.
A few students at the public hearing referred to the available space as proof that DeWitt Clinton High School can and should welcome the future students and not feel as if it threatens the academic progress made by students.
One student from World View High School expressed a less threatening view of a new D75 school inside Clinton. “A lot of people here are talking about what’s taken away, and nobody’s recognizing what’s being added to the school community if D75 students were to be here,” the student said.
File Photo by Adi Talwar
The student’s positive outlook on welcoming students was also expressed by D75 superintendent, Ketler Louissaint. “We are asking to use a space that is vacant, a space that is not utilized, or that is under-utilized,” responding to concerns of losing classroom space. As for the D75 students, Louissaint said, “When you let District 75 come into your community … you will not want us to leave. You’re going to fall in love with our students.”
Proponents of a new D75 high school within Clinton also point out the needs of 524 students residing in District 10 classified with IEPs. With only 89 D75 students being seated in District 10, DOE figures reveal a deficit of 435 seats at the high school level. DOE argues that establishing a separate D75 high school would help decrease the deficit.
Controversy over dividing the space at the Clinton Campus is not new. When discussions were held in the spring of 2013 over creating Bronx Collaborative High School and World View High School inside the campus, many educators and local elected officials opposed the plan. Many viewed it as an effort by DOE to set up the school for failure.
For Sydney Valerio-Candelaria, a ’99 alum of Clinton, the issue of carving up the campus is personal. She is not only a graduate, but has served as vice president of the alumni association, and currently has a daughter attending the school.
She sees Clinton as unfairly targeted for D75 expansion, citing the neighborhood of Norwood. “Does this happen in other zip codes of District 10 like Riverdale-Kingsbridge Academy, where my daughter can’t apply to because we live in the wrong zip code?” asked Valerio-Candelaria.
The DOE continues to examine comments made by email and letters from those unable to attend the April 2 public hearing.
PEP is expected to vote on the proposal on April 17 at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers.
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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.
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First and foremost, D75 academic statistics will not be included and made part of Clinton District 10 statistics. These are separate districts, separate schools, separate funding and must report separately to the DOE and State Education Department. Therefore there will be absolutely no diminishment in current Clinton HS academic achievements, reporting and rankings.
Second, D75 students have very different needs and services than those of existing Clinton HS students. While Clinton students focus on academics and transition preparation to college, D75 students require various therapy interventions such as physical therapy, speech therapy and concentrate on learning activities of daily living with eventual goal of transitioning out of the DOE to an appropriate program according to the needs and capabilities of the individual.
What it really comes down to is sharing the auditorium and sharing the lunchroom. Of course, Clinton HS students will also have the occasion to see D75 students all of which have moderate to profound disabilities.
Therefore, your opposition boils down to not wanting to have to see these D75 students at your school. Your opposition led by your Parent Association President, given the facts above, are blatantly discriminatory and has no place in our society. I suggest you re-reading that chapter in your history books and substitute a D75 disabled student and their parent in its place and in that history book, make yourselves the provacators of the day. After all, this is your current position although you can change by learning from those history books.
As Martin Luther said…
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
The main question is what about the other 435 D75 students? Why only 8 classrooms? We as a community have an empty school, ST ANNS sitting on Bainbridge Ave This is “sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity “. We can place all of D10’s D75 students at one time! My opposition doesn’t boil down to not wanting to see these D75 students at our school, BUT to see all 524 D75 students residing in District 10 place in a NEW High School not by placing an existing High School in a already over crowed High School. At least this Parent Association President is concern for all students without any blatantly discriminatory for any one. I have fostered thirteen teenage children in my own home, what have you do for the children?