See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.<\/p>\n
By Julianne Cuba<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Daily<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The city must halt its plan to co-locate two Midwood middle schools, because one is known to be less safe, parents are demanding. <\/p>\n
The Department of Education wants to move IS 381 in with Andries Hudde because the latter campus is under-enrolled and has better facilities. But parents of IS 381 students say they picked the school in part because it did not have Hudde’s rough-and-tumble reputation.<\/p>\n
“Parents did not choose this school for their kids — they chose 381,” said Elaina McDuffie, whose son just started sixth grade at IS 381. “And the question I have as a parent is: If my children are moved from a safe environment to an unsafe environment, who is responsible when my children are put in harm’s way, if that’s the case?”<\/p>\n
And McDuffie was not alone — several parents echoed her concern at a Dec. 12 hearing on the planned move.<\/p>\n
“We have received numerous reports and complaints of incidents that happen at the school and around the school. Please make note the number-one priority for my children is safety,” said Jennifer Bartholomew, whose two kids attend IS 381.<\/p>\n
Students, however, feel the schools are about the same when it comes to safety, according to city records.<\/p>\n
A 2015 Department of Education survey found that 70 percent of Hudde pupils feel safe at the Nostrand Avenue junior high — while 78 percent of IS 381 students reported feeling secure in their E. 22nd Street campus.<\/p>\n
And Hudde students apparently outperformed their IS 381 counterparts in math last year — 30 percent of its test-takers met state math standards last year compared to IS 381’s 13 percent. IS 381 had the edge on English however — 38 percent of pupils there passed the state language exams compared to Hudde’s 31 percent, records show.<\/p>\n
IS 381’s roughly 300 sixth- through eighth-graders would benefit from Hudde’s superior science lab and library, as well as better high-school prep work, according to the city’s proposal. There are 800 students currently enrolled at Hudde, but the campus can fit about 1,400, records show.<\/p>\n
IS 381 is currently co-located with PS 197, and officials are hoping to increase enrollment at the primary school if IS 381 moves in with Hudde, the proposal states.<\/p>\n
Officials voted on the measure late Wednesday, after this paper went to press.<\/p>\n
Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 260–4577 or by e-mail at jcuba@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.<\/p>\n
Comment on this story.<\/p>\n