Students, teachers protest planned merger of Kensington schools

DOZENS OF frustrated students, alumni and teachers last night protested the school district's plan to merge two small Kensington high schools.

During a School Reform Commission meeting, about 50 members of Youth United for Change, most of them students, were escorted by police from the auditorium at the district's headquarters after briefly shouting at members of the commission and after at least one member of the group cursed at the panel.

The protesters were upset over what they say is a rushed process to close Kensington Urban Education Academy High and merge it with Kensington Business, Finance and Entrepreneurship High in September because of low enrollment and underperformance (the schools share a building). They also insist that the community has been kept in the dark.

"As students, parents and community members, we have been shut out of this process," Essence Whiting, a freshman at Kensington Urban, testified earlier during the meeting. "Why were parents only informed of the plan this week?

"My family hasn't even gotten a call yet."

Larry Arata, a first-year teacher at Kensington Business, said an assistant superintendent told faculty at both schools that Kensington Business had improved, but that Urban continued to struggle, a result the district blamed on previous leadership. He noted that research supports smaller, more-personalized high schools.

"The obvious question for the SRC is: Why not remain true to the research that shows that smaller schools are better?" he said. "Why not keep the two schools as separate, small schools and give the side that is underperforming what it needs to improve?"

Kensington Business is one of three smaller schools created in 2004 - along with Kensington Creative and Performing Arts and Kensington Health Sciences - when the district closed Kensington High School, which had been plagued by violence and dismal graduation rates. Kensington Urban opened in 2009.

Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Logan, who oversees the four schools, told the Daily News last month that along with low graduation rates and high student turnover, enrollment at Kensington Business and Kensington Urban lags behind the other two high schools in the neighborhood. Also, she said, the principal of Kensington Business is out indefinitely on a medical sabbatical.

In response to questions about the community's involvement, Deputy Superintendent Paul Kihn last night said the district had been meeting with stakeholders for a few months. He noted that the district has two community meetings scheduled, the first of which was last night. A public hearing is set for April 28.

Kihn also claimed that Youth United for Change had been invited to meet with district leaders, which prompted the outcry from the audience.

Despite the concerns voiced by community members, the SRC voted unanimously last night to amend the school code and shorten the time period between the public hearing and a final SRC vote from three months to 45 days.

In other matters, the SRC also approved a measure that would help developers move forward with a half-billion-dollar plan to redevelop the Gallery at Market East. The thumbs-up from the SRC was needed for a Tax Increment Financing District because it involves property taxes, a portion of which would be dedicated to the school district.