Why PS 25 Eubie Blake school in D16 should not be closed Leonie Haimson Class Size Matters February 2018 leonie@classsizematters.org www.classsizematters.org

Proposal to close PS 25 Eubie Blake with PEP vote scheduled for Feb School currently co-located with Success Academy Bed Stuy 3 (84K883), in building K025, located at 787 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn DOE says basing this proposal “on its persistently low enrollment and lack of demand from students and families,” as it has only 94 students currently, according to the EIS (though the school portal says 96). “If this proposal is approved, students residing in the current P.S. 25 elementary school zone will no longer have access to their zoned option as of the 2018-2019 school year” as there will be no zoned school for the neighborhood Source: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/AE8473F1-3A8B-4C65-9F8F- 3C63C9DA32C9/220708/AmendedEISPS25closure_vfinal.pdf

Where will current students go? DOE says current families will receive “elementary school options within District 16 whose performance approaches P.S. 25’s and a small number of options outside of District 16 whose performance exceeds that of P.S. 25.” Why will they only be offered with other D16 options with performance approaching PS 25? Presumably because PS 25 performance exceeds or equals any other D16 elementary school, with 50% students proficient on the state ELA exams and 53% proficient in math.

Following information is from the DoE’s own data and analysis The performance data in this presentation is taken directly from the DOE’s 2017 School Performance Dashboard For PS 25, it can be found here: https://tools.nycenet.edu/dashboard/#dbn=16K025&report_type=E MS&view=City Current class size data can be found here: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EF7E3388-E323-4146-9631- 114805596755/0/November2017_Avg_ClassSize_School.xlsx

PS 25 has very high needs students –31% with disabilities & 85% economic need index

PS 25 meets Framework expectations in all categories & exceeds in Effective School Leadership, Trust, Collaborative Teachers & Student Achievement

Student performance at PS 25 on state exams in ELA and Math has sharply risen in recent years

PS 25 has the 4th highest positive impact on student achievement of any of the 661 elementary schools in NYC according to DOE The Blue Dot is PS 25

PS 25 has the 2nd highest positive impact on student achievement of any elementary school in Brooklyn Impact is measured by achievement on state exams based on expected outcomes of incoming students PS 25 has an impact rating of .93 according to DOE analysis The only three public elementary schools in NYC with higher impact ratings are Walton Ave. school in the Bronx (1.00), PS 15 in Manhattan(.97) and P.S. 172 in Brooklyn(.94). The only charter school that outperforms PS 25 is Success Academy Bronx 2 ( .94) , while the impact ratings of Bed Stuy Success Academy 2 ( .86), and Bed Stuy Success Academy 1 (.85) are both far lower. 

Why is PS 25 impact rating so high Why is PS 25 impact rating so high? It outperforms its comparison schools by 21% in ELA and math

School even outperforms NYC average in ELA and math scores by 7% and 6% –exceptional given its high-needs population

The students with IEPs seem to especially shine- those in ICT classes & in self-contained classes

DOE says closure advisable because of low enrollment The school has only 94 -96 students in the current (2017-2018) school year Yet low enrollment is probably part of reason allows for small classes and high achievement Class sizes range from 10 to 18 in the school DOE policies push class sizes up -- especially in the early grades -- and the Mayor has refused to align its school capacity formula with smaller classes, as the Blue Book working group recommended Moreover, if DOE celebrated the school in terms of its low class sizes & exceptionally strong impact on achievement more families would likely enroll DOE could also place another preK or 3K in the school which would also cause enrollment to grow.  

If the school closes this will eliminate the only zoned school for the neighborhood Question as to whether this is legal without a vote of the Community Education Council CEC has legal authority to approve changes in zoning lines and this is the most radical of changes – removing a zoned school altogether It would also leave the building entirely to Success Academy Bed Stuy 3 CEC generally supports closure of school b/c of low enrollment but hasn’t yet voted on any rezoning

Instead the DOE should celebrate, emulate and expand the school. Conclusion In my view, it would be tragic if the best elementary school in Brooklyn in terms of its positive impact on student achievement were closed. Instead the DOE should celebrate, emulate and expand the school.