Judge rules city can close Jamaica High School and 21 others citywide

“If the failing public schools are not closed, students may be subject to substandard educational environments which will obviously cause them to be considerably harmed,” Feinman wrote in his decision issued late Thursday night.

A number of Queens legislators are co-petitioners in the suit, which was filed in the state Supreme Court in Manhattan at the end of June, including state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) and Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens).

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said he was pleased with the ruling.

“I am incredibly heartened by the court’s decision,” Walcott said in a prepared statement. “From the beginning of the Bloomberg administration, we have said that a primary focus of our reform efforts would be to phase out schools that have failed our children year after year, and offer families new, high-quality options. … I know this decision will come as great comfort and relief to the thousands of children who have been in limbo, wondering what the outcome of this case would be, and for that I am very happy.”

While the city is able to move forward with its plans to close the schools, which it has said it is doing because of low test scores and graduation rates, the judge did not entirely dismiss the case. Feinman did not address the portion of the lawsuit that the school closures and co-locations create inequities in education.

Because of this, the union said it would continue its legal battle against the city.

“If there is any shame in this matter, it belongs to the mayor and the administration that sat back and made no attempt to help schools and students that were struggling, an administration that favored charter schools while it ignored the needs of public school students,” Mulgrew said. “Judge Feinman’s decision affected only our request for an injunction rather than the underlying issues of inequity and broken promises on the part of the DOE. We look forward to the opportunity to defend these students’ interests as we vigorously pursue this case in court.”

The judge’s decision came just hours after state Education Commissioner John King approved the city’s closure plans it submitted to the state for a number of the schools, including Jamaica and Beach Channel high schools.

The approval makes it possible for the city to receive $5 million in federal funds to help with the school closures and establish smaller schools in those buildings.

King did emphasize the need for the city to support schools that enroll students who had attended the schools slated for closure.

“We want to ensure that schools receiving students who would otherwise have attended a phased out school are not negatively impacted as a result of their now enrolling an increased number of high-needs students,” the commissioner wrote in a letter sent to Walcott on Thursday.

Avella said the city too should ensure that students at schools being phased out receive equal treatment as their peers, though he said he has little faith this will happen.

“We can all assume there will be no resources at Jamaica High School next year,” Avella said. “The 3,000 students affected by the proposed closing of Jamaica High School are like second class citizens because they’re not going to get anything. They’ve been forgotten by the DOE, chancellor and mayor. They’ll have no after-school programs, huge class sizes, no new computers. It’s a disgrace.”