OK, here's what I found on the site:
Quote:Acceptance into The Harvey Milk School is through a highly selective interview process overseen by the Director of The Harvey Milk School, in conjunction with The Hetrick-Martin Institute and Department of Education.
Because this is a New York City Public School, you must be a legal resident of the City of New York to be eligible for enrollment.
If you live with a parent or guardian or are under the age of 18, your parent/guardian must accompany you to the interview.
Please bring your school records, transcripts, up to date immunization records, and birth certificate and social security card.
Youth who are being considered for acceptance after the initial interview should expect two more interviews before an offer of admission is made.
Failure to comply with the requirements of this interview could jeopardize your opportunity for admission into The Harvey Milk School.
Due to the limited number of vacancies at the school each semester, not all youth who interview will be offered admission.
Walter, my high school was weird -- an Open school -- so don't read too much into that.
Thomas knows I was the chair of a charter school committee (trying to set one up) and asked me to weigh in on the cost thing. I haven't thus far because a) I'm not sure, and b) I think that tangent distracts from the main discussion -- would there really be so much opposition if the headline were just, "New York City Will Open Another High School, Will Serve 100 Students"?
But, miscellaneous thoughts on the cost thing:
I think patiodog's analysis is correct in terms of real-life impact. The two things I would add is that schools are given a certain amount of money per student (more for disabled students), say $10,000. So if 30 students leave school A for school B, $300,000 leaves, too. This while it's very possible that no teaching positions or comparable expenses will be cut.
However, it's also possible that the school has a limited number of openings, and 30 other students from the waiting list will fill the gap, no problem. Or even just that the school will happen to gain 40 new students that year.
When I was investigating this in terms of charter schools (I don't know how it works for transfer among public schools), there were specific tax write-offs and supplements that eased that burden when students transferred away. Something like the schools that were left got a certain percentage of the $$ they would have had the first year, a lesser percentage the next year, less the next, and then nothing after the third year.
Separately, public school funds can't be used to establish a NEW school, in terms of the physical building, desks, etc. Some funds can be used for books. Charter schools have access to a special low-interest loan program for this purpose, but it's a loan. So the $2.3 million thing is neither here nor there -- it's not like that money would otherwise go to other schools. I assume that's where the foundation comes in, and the money was probably raised for this specific purpose. (I.e. calling Ellen DeGeneres and asking her whether she would like to be part of an exciting initiative to start the country's first publicly funded gay and lesbian high school.) (Can you tell I'm in fundraising mode myself these days?
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