A week after announcing that the city will recommend the closure of a controversial Manhattan charter school, city officials have begun to reach out to help parents plan where they will send their students next year.
In a letter sent yesterday, the charter school office executive director Recy Benjamin Dunn formally told parents that the city is recommending that the state shutter Ross Global Academy.
This is the first letter from city officials to Ross parents concerning the decision. City officials held a meeting with the school last week, and expect to release their final report recommending closure later this week or next, a Department of Education spokesman said.
Last year, when the city revoked the charter of East New York Preparatory School, officials set up a one-year program at the school that students could opt into rather than transferring to other district or charter schools. In this case, Ross parents have not yet missed the deadlines to apply to other schools and the city is encouraging them to submit applications before the Department of Education’s January deadline.
“We understand that this may be difficult for you, and we are committed to working with each of you to make this process as easy as possible over the next couple of months, should the Regents vote to close the school,” Dunn writes.
Ross Global’s administration has said that it plans to challenge the city’s decision, possibly in court.