Small schools

Many of those interviewed said JFK’s decline began when it was broken up into small schools in the early 2000s. Based on the DOE’s belief that small learning communities serve students better, JFK was split multiple times and currently houses five small schools. 

Dianne Stillman, a longtime teacher at JFK who still works there, said when the small schools first moved in they were not required to take their share of high-need students, including English language learners and those in special education who could not learn in a general education classroom.

The practice forced Kennedy to absorb a larger number of needy students which, in turn, brought performance levels down. Soon, it had become a place students went when they didn’t get accepted to any of their other choices, according to Ms. Stillman.

“You’re left with a large number of students who have done horribly all along and no school wants them,” Ms. Stillman said. 

Evan Schwartz, principal of the Bronx School of Law and Finance on the Kennedy campus, said his school was opened in 2003 and was given a two-year reprieve from accepting certain needy students “because we didn’t have the staff to provide for those students.”

However, he said, that was eight years ago and the school has since been accepting its fair share. 

“The small schools coming into Kennedy had nothing to do with the problems that Kennedy had,” he said.

Ms. Winderbaum said large numbers of high need students were not the only problem. She also said making room for the small schools caused overcrowding.

In an article from 2003 The New York Times said JFK was so overcrowded some students were forced to eat lunch at 9:20 a.m. 

Today, Kenendy educates about 1,500 students. The other schools housed on the Kennedy campus have enrollments of less than half that.

Poor leadership

Maria Colon, who taught at Kennedy, her Alma mater, for nearly 10 years, said she thinks the leadership at the school has compounded its troubles.