Canarsie High School Rallies for Principal David Harris...

.... Monday, June 25th at 4 PM.

at Region 6 Office
5619 Flatlands Avenue
(Between East 57th and East 58th Streets.)

Seventy five parents, teachers and students attended a preliminary rally on Sunday at 11am at Canarsie HS to defend David Harris, their principal for the past year, against what they say is his unjust removal by the Region 6 officials, especially since the Region and the people who made the decision will no longer be active in the affairs of Canarsie HS after this Wednesday when all Regions will be abolished. The letter to remove Harris was signed by Wendy Karp, who will have a new position in Queens under the DOE reorganization.

Today's rally is expected to be considerably larger with most of the school staff, many students and an organizerd group of parents joining in. That an entire school community would rally for a principal is somewhat remarkable in today's world of DOE political maelstrom. Canarsie is the only large school left standing in southeast Brooklyn after it was announced that Tilden, South Shore, Jefferson (sadly, my alma mater) and Wingate have, or are in the process, of being closed. It is expected that Canarsie will get many of the more at risk students who will not be accepted to the new small schools being opened in these buildings.

Canarsie is a School Under Registration Review (SUR) and the Registration Review prepared by the state ed department recommended that Harris be allowed a few years to turn the school around, a fact many of the protesters claim has already began under Harris' brief tenure. When informed of his removal, an anonymous State Ed Department official expressed surprise and dismay that the recommendation to retain Harris was ignored.

Contacts:
Teacher Thea Platt 917-754-0171
PTA President Reginald Murray 718-809-6529