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Parents vent frustrations over plans for Tapestry Charter

Mike Desmond/wbfo news

Tapestry Charter School leaders met with unhappy parents Monday evening to discuss plans to move the youngest students to a building over on the East Side to allow expansion.

The furor over moving kindergarten through fifth grade students over to the former Buffalo School 78 on Olympic Avenue is significant enough that a lot of parents showed up for the meeting, as well as two members of the Buffalo Common Council.

Numerous parents just didn't feel they were informed about what was going on.

Neighbor of the new school and parent Romunda Harris-Fonville questioned the emphasis on safety around the proposed new building in material given to parents.

"That neighborhood was just recently redistricted out of the University District. It's not very far from UB. There is not a lot of crime in that neighborhood," Harris-Fonville said. "It is primarily a middle class, working class neighborhood. The only difference between this neighborhood and that neighborhood is the color of the skin of the people who reside in it."

Tapestry officials said they were just presenting a full picture about School 78, along with the building condition, air pollution and environmental issues. They also said the move carries an affordable cost while building a new building on Great Arrow is more than the charter school can afford. The Tapestry Board of Trustees is to vote on the proposal later this week.
 

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
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