SUNY trustees approve 3 new charter schools in Brentwood and Central Islip
SUNY trustees approved a proposal by Academy Charter School to open three new schools in Central Islip and Brentwood. Seen here is an Academy school in Hempstead. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
The Academy Charter School’s request to open three new schools in Suffolk County was granted state approval Wednesday, a decision that will significantly expand the network’s footprint on Long Island.
The charter’s proposal to open an elementary school and a middle school in Brentwood and a high school in Central Islip — which has faced fierce opposition in those communities — was authorized by State University of New York trustees in a meeting Wednesday.
The Academy, founded in 2009, is Long Island’s biggest and highest-performing charter school system, educating more than 4,200 students. The network already runs two K-12 campuses — one in Hempstead and one in Uniondale — and an elementary school in Wyandanch.
The newly approved schools will increase the network’s total student population by 1,600, to nearly 6,000 by 2031-32, according to figures included in a summary from the Charter Schools Institute, which reviews applications and makes recommendations to SUNY.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Three new charter schools in Brentwood and Central Islip were approved by State University of New York trustees on Wednesday.
- An elementary school and a middle school are to open in Brentwood next fall. A high school is to open in Central Islip in the fall of 2027.
- Supporters say charter schools offer an alternative to parents dissatisfied with traditional public school options. Opponents argue they drain funding from local districts.
"I'm excited the work is about to begin," said Barrington Goldson, founder of the Academy system, in an interview with Newsday after the meeting.
But Wanda Ortiz-Rivera, superintendent of Brentwood schools, said in a statement that SUNY's decision did not "reflect the needs or values of our community" and their approval "risks creating division instead of strengthening the unity that makes Brentwood strong.”
Her statement read in part, “This vote disregards the tremendous progress our district has made and undermines the trust, dedication and hard work of our educators, families and students."
Ortiz-Rivera said her district will continue to advocate for its students and “ensure that the Brentwood school district remains a place where every child is seen, supported and inspired to achieve their greatest potential.”
Central Islip district Superintendent Sharon Dungee did not mention Academy or the new charter’s approval in a statement, but affirmed the district’s commitment to students.
"While a parent's right of choice to provide the education deemed best for their children is certainly respected, the Central Islip school district continues to afford its community the highest degree of academic and extracurricular offerings advanced by a faculty and staff who meet the highest standards in their respective fields of instruction,” her statement read in part.
Community outreach urged
The Charter Schools Institute had recommended SUNY trustees approve Academy’s applications. The institute cited its schools’ strong student outcomes, as reflected in higher academic proficiency and graduation rates than neighboring district schools.
Trustee Joseph W. Belluck, chair of the SUNY charter schools committee, urged Academy to continue community outreach and conversations with local politicians, some of whom oppose their expansion.
“There is a lot of anxiety on Long Island about charter schools, particularly the impact on funding of the district schools,” Belluck said. “I think it's very important that there's continued conversations about how our charter schools can benefit the district schools and work to raise all those on Long Island.”
Wayne Haughton, Academy’s chief development officer, told trustees those efforts will continue.
"We already have a structured boots-on-the-ground team that is ready to go," he said. "As soon as we get the nod from you, we'll be right there on the ground working with the communities."
Eunice A. Lewin, a SUNY trustee, asked Academy representatives about the network’s capacity to operate three more schools in addition to its existing campuses.
Goldson said, “We have on-hand principals, instructors, finance folks in-house ready to take on this expansion. We do believe that we have the capacity to take on this venture.”
About a dozen representatives from Academy attended the meeting virtually, including Bianca Estrada, an alum who has returned to the Academy as a teaching assistant.
Estrada, who graduated in 2021 before attending Cornell University, credited much of her academic success to the Academy.
“When I started at the Academy in sixth grade, I was pushed academically, and this made me work harder and also develop critical thinking skills,” she told the trustees. “I believe that students in Brentwood and Central Islip should also have these opportunities.”
The two schools in Brentwood are slated to open next fall. The Central Islip school is expected to open in the fall of 2027.
Goldson said his team has looked at sites for the new schools and will begin to negotiate and secure the facilities. He declined to say where those buildings would be, but said the proposed site in Brentwood could house both the elementary and middle schools.
Controversy over charters
Charter schools are independently run and have more freedom than traditional public schools in hiring and instructional decisions. They do not charge tuition to families.
Although charters are public schools, their expansion in the public education landscape has long been controversial. Supporters say they offer an alternative to parents dissatisfied with their traditional public school options, whereas opponents argue they drain funding from local districts, threatening the education of students in existing schools.
Brentwood is the largest school district on the Island with 18,000 students. Officials there estimated the opening of the two schools would require the district to send Academy $26 million in tuition reimbursements and other aid in 2030-31.
The Charter Schools Institute, however, found the fiscal impact of the schools to be “limited.” It estimated a 4.2% fiscal impact from those tuition payments and other aid for 1,000 students, given Brentwood’s 2024-25 budget of $603 million.
The institute had the same “limited” fiscal impact finding for Central Islip, projecting $16 million to flow from the district to Academy for 600 students in 2031-32. The payments account for 5.59% of the district’s 2024-25 budget of $294 million.
In its written objection to Academy’s proposal, Brentwood school district attorney Candace Gomez, with Bond, Schoeneck & King, noted a “community-wide rejection” of the charters’ opening. She cited multiple petitions that in total garnered thousands of signatures.
Gomez, as well as others in public hearings held earlier in June, also noted that Academy serves a lower ratio of students with special needs and English language learners.
Even though charter schools cannot refuse any student, critics have said they “cream-skim” the highest-performing students from traditional public schools. Goldson denied this, noting students are chosen by lottery.
“Nobody can come into the charter school unless they go through the lottery,” he said. “It's a lottery system that's not even run by us.”
Gomez also pointed to the high teacher turnover rate at Academy. In 2023-24, for example, its Uniondale campus failed to retain one third of its teaching staff. In comparison, the turnover rate in Brentwood was 13%, according to state data.
Teachers at Academy are not unionized, while Brentwood's are part of the Brentwood Teachers Association, a local affiliate of New York State United Teachers.
Goldson said his schools cannot compete with the pension benefits districts can offer and that tenure helps with retention: “Our teachers return to us based on merit and performance.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
