Mayor Bill de Blasio is not closing any schools this year, but the change in policy has come too late for the 15 high schools citywide that are already in some stage of phasing out. “As long as there are students at this school, we are here to teach them.” That is the sentiment echoed by educators at each of these schools.

It’s a travesty that educators forced into excess by the closure of their schools have been maligned by the tabloid press as undesirable. On the contrary, we need to reflect upon and celebrate the heroic work of our colleagues as the clock winds down on schools that have meant so much to them, their students and the surrounding community. These educators are on a mission, and they’re giving their all to the students who remain.

At Sheepshead Bay HS in Brooklyn, Chapter Leader Teri D’Ambrosio, a 22-year paraprofessional, is proud of her colleagues who wrote curricula aligned to the Common Core to help make sure that their students were prepared. “Even though our students don’t have all of the teachers they need, we’re doing everything we can to make sure they graduate on time,” she said.

Juniors and seniors at phasing-out schools have the same needs as their peers at other schools, whether it is preparing for the SAT or needing special accommodations for a test. Those needs don’t evaporate just because the school is phasing out. “Every one of our students deserves the best high school experience,” said Zacharias Rivera, the chapter leader at Legacy HS in Manhattan. Rivera said the teachers at his school are committed to putting in the extra time on SAT Saturdays to help students on this important entrance exam. Legacy, which is down to a barely conceivable enrollment of 18 students in its final year of phase-out, has teamed up with schools from the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus for student visits to SUNY Albany and other colleges, senior trips, their graduation ceremony next spring as well as the prom.

Together with his nine remaining colleagues, Eric Simone, a 26-year veteran teacher and the chapter leader at Law, Government and Community Service HS in Cambria Heights, Queens, has adjusted to his school’s limited course offerings, which are focused on the requirements to enable their students to graduate. “If there were less than a full commitment on the part of the staff, it might affect their college chances,” Simone said. “But the remaining teachers are focused on helping the students get to where they want to go.” In between teaching three levels of Spanish and health, Simone is also supervising the final edition of the school yearbook.

It’s a familiar story by now. At many of our large comprehensive high schools over the past decade, students struggling to meet minimum standards came, but the resources to support them did not follow. The influx was overwhelming at schools such as Jonathan Levin HS for Media and Communications in the South Bronx, where at the time of its announced phase-out in 2013, 60 percent of the students were English language learners. This year, 50 percent of the students have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

These educators have not been deterred; they are determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that their students have a future. For instance, Leela Raj, a science teacher at the school, has expanded the use of the Babylon translation software on school computers, which she said has helped her English language learners outperform general education students in earth science. “Our children can learn with dual-language technology,” Raj said.

What makes the phase-out of Jonathan Levin HS particularly poignant is the end of the “living tribute” to its namesake, an esteemed teacher who was tragically killed in 1997. How can we accept losing schools named for General D. Chappie James, the military hero and first African-American four-star general, or Paul Robeson, the world-renowned singer, actor, scholar and activist, or Rafael Cordero, called the “father of education” in Puerto Rico, or Jane Addams, the pioneer social worker? What message does it send to our students and their communities?

With great fanfare in 2003, the city named Jonathan Levin HS to honor a teacher who would go the distance for students that others too often gave up on. As a final tribute, I’m proud our members at his former school — and at all the other phasing-out high schools — have kept the faith and will finish the course.