N.Y. City votes to restructure two schools in Richmond Hill

TIMES INT'L

 

By North American Correspondent

The New York City Policy Education Committee, appointed by Mayor Bloomberg, voted 8-7 last week to restructure Richmond Hill and John Adams High Schools in the heart of the Guyanese American community in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Hundreds of Guyanese are enrolled as students and dozens more are employed as teachers in these schools. Restructuring of the school will see half of the Guyanese teachers losing their jobs and many students from the community having to find replacement schools.

Before the vote, students, teachers and parents from the greater Richmond Hill area rallied to save both schools as did students at several other schools which the City also plan to shutter because of under performance.

Some seven high schools in Queens will be reorganized or closed as would several high schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Students at Richmond Hill and John Adams say their schools have improved a lot over the last few years and should be spared the cut. Community leaders are also against the school’s closure.

After hearing more than three hours of testimony from students, teachers and parents, Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm noted that the evening was, “a night for us to listen and not to make decisions. “We certainly heard a tremendous amount of passion about Richmond Hill High School, especially from the students,” Grimm said, garnering applause from hundreds in the audience. But that did not prevent the Board members from voting to reorganize the school at a specially convened meeting to consider Bloomberg’s plan.

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