Parents are cheering the decision to pause proposals to close several Upper West Side middle schools, but education experts said such controversies will keep cropping up as the nation’s largest school system grapples with declining enrollment.
Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels had pushed for plans to close the Community Action School, and the middle grades at Manhattan School for Children and I.S. 191, because each had fewer than 200 kids. Officials planned to move another middle school, The Center School, to make room for P.S. 9, a popular elementary school that is overcrowded. Facing fierce opposition from parents, Samuels announced he was tabling the plans for now.
Experts said more such fights are likely as the nation’s largest school system serves fewer students due to lower birth rates and families leaving the city…