A recent hearing at PS 347 in Chelsea was quieter than many hearings the Department of Education has held on its controversial plans for schools to share space. That's because many in the audience speak with their hands. But the students, parents, and alumni at the only public school in the country where deaf and hearing students learn side by side, say they feel even more passionate about preserving the space in their school building -- space they would lose under a plan to move almost 300 students from the Clinton Middle School into the building.
"We are a very unique school of very high risk students. We cannot be crammed into small classrooms. We have to sit in 'U' shapes where students can see the teachers. Everything is visual with deaf students," said PS 347 teacher Patti Anderegg.
"We need space. We need space to sign," said PS 347 teacher Aviance Pride.
The American Sign Language and English dual language schools serve students from pre-k through 12th grade, and already share the building with a program for students with severe handicaps. Students say they've already lost the space for many programs.
"We had a cooking class we had an art class we had a media class, we had everything. There was nothing needed. Now we don't have an art class. The only extracurricular activity we basically have is a media class," said PS 347 student Kiana Diaz.
"The people who are making this decision, I wonder how many of them send their own kids to schools without science lab, music room and art room," Anderegg said.
Clinton Middle is being forced into the sign language school because it's being squeezed out of the building it has shared for more than three decades with PS 11. Many of the students at P.S. 11 come from outside the neighborhood to attend its gifted and talented program, which many blame for causing the space squeeze for the other schools. They also question whether the DOE is taking the required public hearings seriously.
"Four-hundred boxes arrived at the school, moving boxes, on the day of the public hearing to decide whether it was a valid move or not, they delivered boxes. They came and picked them up, they were a little embarrassed," said Clinton Middle School parent Heather Tarrant.
Parents and teachers say they are worried that if the DOE gets its way, the education and safety of hundreds of special needs students may suffer.