Well, what do you know? The Department of Education does listen to reason sometimes.

Chancellor Dennis Walcott personally delivered the message to staff at IS 2 on Staten Island on Oct. 8 that the co-location the DOE had planned for their building — protested vehemently by the school community at two meetings — has been canceled.

“The school and community, together, deserve credit for showing the DOE that the co-location plan made no sense,” UFT District 31 Representative Sean Rotkowitz said. “It was misguided from the start.”

IS 2 was severely affected by Hurricane Sandy. Its boiler was destroyed and has still not been replaced, and the school also had to endure phone and electrical problems all of last year. Yet the DOE had planned to add another junior high school in the same building, which would have added a second administration at huge cost without changing the number of students or class sizes.

More than 600 educators, parents and elected officials blasted the plan at a Community Education Council meeting on Sept. 16 [See “Sandy-ravaged Staten Island school fights co-location,” Sept. 26 issue], and 350 turned out for the public hearing on the proposal on Oct. 3. UFT President Michael Mulgrew also spoke about the school’s plight at a City Council hearing on Oct. 2 [see page 4].

DOE officials said IS 2 instead would receive additional resources, including $10,000 for a reading support program and professional development for staff. 

Read our earlier coverage of this story »