GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

In its third attempt to find a home for a Chelsea middle school, the city is proposing to rent a former Catholic school.

Starting next year, the city will rent Saint Michael’s Academy to house the Clinton School for Artists and Writers, Department of Education officials announced today. The city is moving the Clinton School from its current home at P.S. 11, which is rapidly expanding. The Clinton School is due to move into a newly constructed building when it is finished in 2014.

But the city has proposed and abandoned two previous plans to move Clinton into temporary space since January. The most recent proposal, which would have moved the school into an East Side building currently shared by the American Sign Language and English Lower and Secondary Schools, sparked fierce protests from parents at all the affected schools. Critics of the plan, including the United Federation of Teachers, also voiced concern that adding 300 middle school students to the building would create fire hazards. On the eve of the citywide school board’s vote on the plan, the city backtracked, saying it would explore other options. (more…)