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An education panel voted Wednesday evening to close P.S. 25, New York City’s smallest school, following a yearslong battle to shutter it.
Only 53 students are currently enrolled in grades K-5, making it all but impossible for the Bedford-Stuyvesant school to offer a full suite of programs. With city funding directly tied to headcount, the school has struggled to pay for core academic instruction, such as special education teachers, as well as art and extracurriculars, District 16 Superintendent Brendan Mims said Wednesday.
The city’s Panel for Educational Policy, a majority of which is appointed by the mayor and must vote on major changes to schools, voted unanimously to close P.S. 25 at the end of the school year. Although the local parent council supported the closure, several educators and caregivers voiced opposition, arguing the school should be given more time to reverse enrollment declines.
Meanwhile, the Education Department withdrew a separate proposal that was originally slated for a vote Wednesday to shutter M.S. 394, another school with dwindling enrollment.
P.S. 25 is an extreme example of a deepening problem: The number of tiny schools has exploded in recent years as enrollment plummeted during the pandemic and has not rebounded. About 190 campuses enroll fewer than 200 students, more than twice as many as in 2016. Small schools are expensive to operate on a per-student basis and struggle to afford basic programs. It cost $45,420 per child last year to operate P.S. 25, more than double the city average.
The city has largely turned to school mergers to address the issue, arguing that consolidating schools is often less disruptive than closing them, making the decision to shutter P.S. 25 an outlier. It is only the second school under Mayor Eric Adams to face closure.
P.S. 25 has fended off previous efforts to shut it down. When its enrollment slipped below 100 students seven years ago, city officials moved to close it. But a group of advocates filed a lawsuit challenging the closure, arguing the move required action from the local parent council because it would have left some families without a zoned option, and the councils have authority over zoning. The city ultimately agreed to keep the school open.
This time around, the Education Department submitted rezoning plans that were approved earlier this month by the local parent council, likely heading off a repeat of that legal battle.
“We have done all we can do — and it’s best to go ahead and close that school and get those families into a more stable environment,” said NeQuan McLean, president of the local parent council, which unanimously voted in favor of closing the school. (The local education council’s vote is not binding.)
McLean noted that the parent council is also encouraging the Education Department to come up with a broader strategy for Brooklyn’s District 16 to address persistent enrollment challenges across schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The city needs to “take a real deep look at enrollment in District 16, or we’re gonna be back next year and the year after talking about consolidations and mergers,” McLean said.
Vote to close M.S. 394 and open new ‘literacy academy’ delayed until April
Another Brooklyn school was spared from closure, at least for now, after members of the community pushed back against the city’s plans.
A proposal to close M.S. 394, a pre-K-8 school in Crown Heights, was scheduled for a vote in December. Education Department officials argued the school is too small and low-performing to stay open. It serves roughly 200 children, a 36% decline over the last five years. About 21% of students were considered proficient in reading last year and 25% in math. Citywide, 53% of students were proficient in math and 49% were in reading.
After several community members voiced opposition to the closure proposal at the December meeting, the panel voted to delay taking any action. The vote was rescheduled for Wednesday evening, but the Education Department abruptly removed it from the agenda. An Education Department spokesperson said they plan to reschedule the vote for April.
Delaying the closure decision for the second time also affects a brand-new school geared toward students with reading challenges that the Education Department hopes to open in the same building. The city’s plans to open the new school, known as the Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy, are tied to the closure of M.S. 394.
Some parents previously said they were frustrated the city was investing in a new school rather than working to revitalize M.S. 394 to attract more families.
“The kids who are already at 394, ultimately, why should they have to leave the school to bring in an institution that I feel will help benefit them as well?” Leon Gidron, a father of three children at the school, said during a public meeting in December. “Why not combine the two?”
Gregory Faulkner, who chairs the Panel for Educational Policy, said education officials are considering altering their proposal to slowly phase out M.S. 394, instead of closing it entirely at the end of the year, while clearing the path for the Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy to open. He suggested some M.S. 394 students could get priority to attend the new school. (An Education Department spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether the city plans to alter its closure proposal.)
Faulkner said the level of community opposition to the closure plan caught him off guard.
“I’ve been talking to parents in 394 to find out … if there’s some kind of a compromise that will work for them,” Faulkner said, adding that the details are still in flux. He noted that Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos personally visited the school this week.
“We prioritize family engagement, including in connection with school closures and openings, which have deep impacts on surrounding communities,” Education Department spokesperson Chyann Tull wrote in an email. “We will continue engaging with families, educators, and community members to ensure transparency and collaboration in this process.”
Still, the Education Department’s decision to postpone the vote leaves M.S. 394 families in limbo about whether they will need to find a new school for their children next year. And the further delay may complicate efforts for the Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy to recruit students and educators in time to open in September if the proposal is ultimately approved.
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
