Now’s your chance to weigh in on a plan to open a Hebrew-themed charter school in southern Brooklyn.
The city Department of Education (DOE) will host a public hearing about the proposed school on June 23 at 7 p.m. at P.S. 326, located at 1800 Utica Avenue. Those unable to attend the hearing can email their comments to charterschools.nyc.gov.
The school’s organizers are expected to make a presentation about the school and answer questions from the public.
The idea of a Hebrew-themed school is seemingly in response to the opening of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the city’s first Arabic-themed school.
Designers of the Hebrew-themed school say they’ll teach culture but not Judaism. But questions remain about where the line will be drawn between the two.
A DOE spokesperson says that if the school were approved, religion would not be part of the curriculum.
The school would be housed in a privately-funded facility and receive financial support from the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life.
The school’s design team is led by a columnist for the New York Sun, which fiercely opposed the creation of the Khalil Gibran Academy. The columnist’s father is Michael Steinhardt, an owner of the Sun and chair of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life.
