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Reaction to the news that Franklin K. Lane High School will be closing is mixed.
It was announced last week that the Brooklyn school - which received a grade of “D” on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s schools progress report - will be phased out in the next 3 1/2 years, and that smaller schools will be opening within the existing building.
“No new ninth graders will be admitted,” said Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson Melody Meyer. “But the current students can finish [at Lane].”
The school, with a total student body of 2,623 - of which approximately 650 are from Queens - had a graduation rate of 32.6 percent for 2007.
“The school has been struggling for a while,” said Councilmember Leroy Comrie.
Meyer confirmed that the institution had been underperforming for the last few years, and said that the smaller learning communities already adopted within grades 10 through 12 will “influence the types of schools set to open.”
Some themes, programs and equipment from these communities will be utilized in the new schools.
The DOE has already accepted 135 proposals for the new institutions - at least one in Franklin K. Lane set to open next fall - and will announce its selection in February 2008.
“I view this as an opportunity to reinvigorate this educational establishment with teachers and programs needed to attract - and retain - children in today’s environment,” said Comrie.
However, students do not necessarily feel the same.
“I don’t agree with it,” said sophomore Vanelssy Rodriguez. “They’re just throwing us out.”
The DOE said that its District Leadership Teams, consisting of PTA members, community education council members, politicians and leaders of community organizations, would be holding workshops open to the public.
The next meeting will be held on January 12, 2008.
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