The following text is aStatement from Christ the King High School’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Serphin R. Maltese Regarding Justice Grays’ Lawsuit Decision:
On September 6, 2017, Justice Marguerite A. Grays of Queens County Supreme Court denied 3 orders to show cause requested by Christ the King Regional High School (CTK), Middle Village Preparatory Charter School (MVP), and Christ the King Continuing Education (CTKCE). The goal of each of these show cause orders was to stay enforcement of a March 22, 2017 order by Justice Grays which directed MVP to cease operations on the CTK Campus. That decision is currently being appealed to the Appellate Division.
It is unclear why Justice Grays denied these requests after both MVP and CTK had already started their new school year.
The fact is any disruption to MVP will have consequences far beyond MVP itself.
MVP has become, over the last 4+ years, an integral presence on the CTK Campus. Rent from MVP helps fund scholarships and grants for most of the 700 students at CTK. These funds add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars that directly benefit CTK students and their families by keeping the high school tuition affordable for so many hard working people in this area of Queens. In other words, these funds are subsidizing a quality Catholic education. Justice Grays’ decision puts these scholarships and grants in danger of being defunded.
The potential impact of this ruling on MVP as an educational institution is harsh. MVP will be faced with the almost impossible task of finding adequate new educational facilities in the middle of the school year and transitioning its operations, resulting in confusion and dislocation…if such facilities could even be found.
Failing to find a place to relocate, MVP would be forced to end its operation on the CTK Campus. MVP students, over 400 in number, in just grades 6 through 8, would need to be accommodated in public schools in a district already experiencing severe overcrowding. This would be detrimental to their education, and a cause of severe anguish for parents who have seen their children thrive and succeed year after year in the state Math and Reading scores.
In addition to the turmoil visited on families and students, teachers, administrators, and support staff at MVP, all will also be thrown into confusion with possible job losses if the school is forced to cease operations.
As mentioned, flooding the local school District 24 with an influx of 400+ students after the school year had started will have a negative impact on other students far removed from the CTK Campus as well as the administrators and teachers in the entire school system.
The legal counsels for all 3 schools, CTK, MVP, & CTKCE, are confident that they will prevail with the appeal of Justice Grays’ original ruling from March, 2017. To preserve that expected outcome, they will move expeditiously for an emergency stay of this
