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| Nighttime scene- Hoboken, NJ |
A recent article on Hoboken Patch…and a comment to the article.
The Hoboken Board of Education’s battle with the New Jersey Department of Education over the fate of the “HoLa” Dual Language Charter School has hit another roadblock.
tOn March 20, the NJDOE issued a decision upholding the charter school’s right to expand to include grades six to eight. The decision was the most recent gambit in a legal battle that started in March of 2014, and may mark the end of the board’s attempt to halt the growth of HoLa.
Board members have maintained that the Jefferson Street charter school has shown trends of segregation, and that the percentage of minority students who attend HoLa is about half that of the district’s public schools.
However, in a letter announcing the decision, New Jersey Education Commissioner David Hespe stated that after analyzing available data, the DOE has concluded that there is no such trend at the school.
Multiple Hoboken school officials have stated that they have no desire to continue with the lawsuit. But in a Monday press release, Interim Superintendent Richard Brockel stated that the decision is flawed because it relies on U.S. Census data instead of school population data, and hinted that the legal fight may not be over.
“The commissioner completely ignored the Board of Education’s pleas to assess the socioeconomic and financial impact of HoLa’s proposed expansion on the Hoboken Public Schools,” stated Brockel. “This decision is extremely disappointing, and the Board of Education and I will be assessing our options due to the commissioner’s failure to fully assess all the issues in this critical matter.”
