When the Preston Gymnasium in Bronx announced in February that it was closing, it seemed to many that it was just another in a long list of urban universal schools who did not have the money and registration to survive. Not even the girls’ school with a famous graduation (Jennifer Lopez, Class of 1987) seemed to be immune to a trend that has closed many schools in recent decades.
But for Preston graduates, today’s students and their families and some staff, something seemed away. Preston was not like these other schools. It was financially healthy and the registration was close to 100 % of the target number of about 370 students. In addition, it has a strong and organized group of former students who refused to accept the explanation of the closure of the Divine Symposium brothers, the Roman Catholic religious class held by the school. Now Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, has been pulled in the blow.
Mrs James presented a public hearing abuse on Tuesday to explore the dark conditions around the decision to close Preston at the end of this school year. A multitude of about 500 people were packaged by the big Amphitheater in Lehman, another Bronx high school, providing hours of testimony along with loud cheers and numerous spins.
“This is a call for action for other schools and other people who are in similar positions to organize and start preparing,” Jacket Stewart-Hawkins, Preston Class of 2002, said in an interview.
Mrs Stewart-Hawkins is part of a wide effort by graduates, staff, families of students and elected officials to keep the school open.
Amanda Farías, the leader of the majority of the New York Council, who graduated from Preston High School in 2007, was one of the people who urged Ms. James to enter.
In an interview last week, Mrs Farías invited the school of “coronal stones of the community” and said it was secreted by the decision to close it, given the relatively stable financial position and high registration. He accused the sisters of Divine Symposium, who possesses the two buildings that host the school, of not transparent.
“Whether they do not want to continue training young women in the Bronx, despite the fact that school is one of the places that have done it successfully and created people like me,” said Farías, “or just want to completely eliminate their hand in the educational space.”
He also spoke during the hearing, along with Vanessa Gibson, the president of the Municipality of Bronx, and Kristy Marmorato, a member of the Municipal Council, whose area includes the Bronx neck section of Preston’s home. Everyone condemned the closure.
Mrs James, who has the power to ask the courts to take action, appeared sympathetic and promised a “thorough analysis” of the case. Her office is authorized to consider how non -profit organizations such as Preston Business Business.
“We want to make sure that every requirement followed,” Mrs James said.
The sisters of the Divine Symposium had no representative during the hearing, but submitted a letter read in the archive. The mandate said in a statement on Wednesday that he had heard all the speakers and will work with the investigation by the Attorney General.
With an average age of 83, its members say they can no longer rule the school or owners and that they need to be prepared for retirement. In a video released to explain the decision, several representatives of the organization said that the school registration, although stable now, is 34 % lower than in 2012 and that buildings are old and need expensive repairs. They criticized what they called misinformation campaign and said they had been “betrayed” by school administrators since the decision was made.
“I would hop that in some way the Preston community would be better to deal with it than it is,” sister Susan Becker told the video. In her letter to the school community, the group also mentioned financial instability and “changing demographic data”, a phrase that was repeatedly brought up during the Tuesday’s hearing.
“Demographics have changed,” said Jennifer Connolly, the headmaster of the school, a vocal opponent of the closure who received a persistent spawning when he was introduced. “I don’t know why this is bad.”
Shortly after the announcement of the closure decision, the Bronx Times reported that the Bally Foundation offered $ 8.5 million to the Divine Symphony sisters for the two buildings and offered to allow the Gymnasium to remain for $ 1 a year. The Foundation is the charity arm of the gambling company that seeks license to license in New York.
The order rejected the offer with a little explanation. Many Preston graduates are wondering if the command received a better offer that requires the assumption of the building.
“This is the guess,” said Andrea Donkor, who graduated from Preston in 1999 and is a former member of his board. “But we can’t understand it differently.”
In a statement to the New York Times, the Divine Symphony sisters reported that in their negotiations, despite the promise of a 25 -year lease, Bally will not commit to long -term operating support for the school. “Bally’s was also reluctant to commit that the property will continue to be used as a school,” the statement continued, “or that Bally will not seek to generate revenue from the property in the future.”
Soo Kim, president of Bally’s, questioned the claim and said in an interview that the offer is still being found and also includes a choice for the school to buy buildings anywhere at the same price, adapted to inflation. He added that as long as the Bally has the golf course on Throgs’ neck, “the school will still exist”.
“It is part of our company’s philosophy to reinvent communities,” Mr Kim said. “We don’t know why they rejected the offer.”
The sisters of divine compassion (also known as the religious of divine compassion, or RDC) were founded in 1886 to care for and educate children with reduced privileged. Opened the school in 1947.
Mrs Donkor and her sister, Crystal Donkor, are two former students who helped, along with Ms Stewart-Hawkins and others, form the preston forever, a group of graduates fighting in the closure. Like Farías, they credit their education in Preston and the sisters of divine compassion with their independence, leadership skills and curiosity that prompted them to take action.
“Preston was the foundation for my orbit to be the woman I am today,” said Crystal Donkor, an English professor at Southern Methodist University.
Their cause was recently reinforced when John McCarrick, a lawyer whose wife and cousins watched Preston, submitted a brief report to the Attorney General. He said he was approached almost three years ago by two of the Divine Symphony sisters – “Rebel Nuns”, as he called them – who said they were unhappy with the organization’s process to move away from school. His short claims that the organization illegally violates the lease agreement with the school.
“The idea that they somehow have the right to generate revenue from this property because it is a valuable real estate is wrong with me,” Mr McCarrick said.
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