Inquiry Reveals DOE/SCA Negotiating for Dock Street School While Telling Public None Was Needed

As reported initially at DUMBO NYC, and then picked up by Brooklyn Heights Blog a FOIL inquiry has revealed that in May 2008, around the time that the Dept. Of Education explained at a meeting of PS8 parents that a middle school was “not needed” in District 13, they were in negotiations with Two Trees for a school to be provided in the Dock Street DUMBO project. And that’s not all.

Further correspondence shows Jed Walentas spoon-feeding a Q&A to DOE/SCA employees on the day of the CB2 hearing to make sure they were on the same page. He also foolishly forwarded to DCA his lobbyist’s suggestion that “we really need to confirm that DOE/SCA will do the right thing tomorrow night,” which evidently did not sit well with them. There are other enlightening gems, such as whether any effort was made to really explore other possible school locations. See the full document here. 32009-dock-st-foil