There's another twist today in the battle over the Girls Prep Middle School. At issue- an agreement Girls Prep negotiated to move into P.S. 188's building on East Houston Street last year. Earlier this week, Girls Prep founder Miriam Raccah told us P.S. 188 always understood (and was supportive of) her school's intentions to add a middle school in the building.

This morning, former P.S. 188 Principal Barbara Slatin, who negotiated the deal, called Raccah's characterization of their conversations "grossly inaccurate."  She said the Department of Education (DOE) approached her two years ago, saying it was necessary to move another school into her building (P.S. 188 was already sharing with P.S. 94, a special needs school). Slatin met with executives of the Girls Prep Charter School, and felt they could be good partners. But it was important to her that there weren't constant turf battles, so the two schools negotiated a space sharing deal that was "equitable and permanent." In other words, Slatin said, Girls Prep agreed not to ask for more space. P.S. 188 gave up 5 classrooms and some other facilities. In a public meeting, Slatin told me, Raccah promised P.S. 188 parents she would not try to take more classrooms.

Continue reading P.S. 188′s Former Principal: Girls Prep Broke Agreement