The Renewal School program is coming to an end. What now?
As many know, The Renewal School program that was started in 2014 is coming to a close after spending nearly $750 million dollars on “community schools” throughout NYC. Chalkbeat wrote an interesting piece on the intricacies surrounding the history of The Renewal Program, as well as identifying the larger issue: even with the program coming to an end, what does this mean for the schools and is funding really stopping? In many cases, the funds will continue after the program ends. Where are those funds going? What happens to the community schools?
The program itself currently supports some 71 schools with such programs as mental health counseling, dental clinics and extra counselors to assist students beyond the classroom. Most was done in tandem with non-profit organizations, so not all funding was coming from the DOE. Of the 94 original schools, 14 have been closed, nine have left the program after being merged with other schools, and city officials said 21 have shown sufficient progress to ease out of the program.
The real issue that concerns many surrounds the concern that schools that are used to funding can no longer bank on that funding. If a school is still in need of help, how does it seek assistance when such a program no longer exists? As one principal said under conditions of anonymity, “The thing that’s crystal clear is there is no year five.”
CITE is the Center for Integrated Training and Education. For over 25 years, CITE has and continues to train TEACHERS (Early Childhood, Professional Certification, Special Ed,Grad Courses, Bilingual courses, DASA); COUNSELORS (School, Mental Health Masters, Advanced Certificate); and ADMINISTRATORS (SBL, SDL, Public Admin, Doctorate) in all five boroughs of NYC, Yonkers, Westchester, and Long Island.
CITE PD offers CTLE-approved in-school professional development tailored to your school’s needs and your vision. Info: citepd.com
We now also offer an undergraduate degree completion program in psychology.
