This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Left for Dead, Charter School Finds New Life

Bed-Stuy tech charter school attempts to try again after losing funding

James Wiley and the rest of the board for the Brooklyn City Prep charter school assumed everything was going to work out.

They had the funding and strong support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation led by executive director Tom Vander Ark, and they had a vision for the Bed-Stuy community-- merging top-notch teachers with the latest technology in online learning.

Parents were ringing the phones off the hook, clamoring with excitement. And then, mere months before the launch in the fall, everything fell apart.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As reported by the New York Times on July 14, Vander Ark had allegedly squandered $1.5 million on lawyers and consultants and subsequently walked away from the project, leaving Wiley and company stunned and furious.

However things are taking a turn for the better now. According to Wiley, Brooklyn City Prep is going to give it another shot. The school was approved for a new plan in 2012 by the New York City Department of Education on July 20th.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We knew it was a major blow with Vander Ark, crippling but not fatal,” Wiley said. “We knew we had the option of applying, so a few weeks after the Vander Ark situation we decided ‘nope we can’t open a very good school this year, so we’re going to apply for another plan [next year].’”

While the concept for Brooklyn City Prep will be the same and will still be led by Principal Curtis Lawrence Jr., from Newark, NJ, Wiley and the board face an uphill battle starting from scratch, beginning with finding new management. However, Wiley insists they need to make sure they find the right partner-- someone who really believes in the curriculum.

“That’s the major challenge. We don’t want to go for a partner, for example, with a curriculum and all they do is offer books, nothing online or electronic,” Wiley said. “That’s not something we’re looking for. We don’t want a partner that’s just seeking New York elite [either].”

Since the new attempt is still in its infancy, Wiley says he and the board aren’t yet worried about funding. But, he insists, they learned their lesson after working with Vander Ark.

“A more cautious approach is an understatement,” Wiley said while laughing. “I think right now we’ve got to take a forensic approach. We took a lot of time on the last one. All assumptions are off the table.”

Other steps towards the new school include building out the board and finding a replacement building which was originally supposed to be at the Boys High School on Madison Avenue.

Perhaps the most vital step of all is earning the trust of the community again and exposing the new school in time for 2012.

“We got a lot interest from local parents but we didn’t enroll any students. We’re hoping the interest comes again,” Wiley said. “It’s too bad we didn’t get everything in time. It’s too bad this whole thing happened."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?