Usanewsonline.com desk:  Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. stated the following in response to the withdrawal of two proposals to co-locate Success Academy at MS 72 in Rockdale and the Springfield Gardens Educational Campus (SGEC) in Springfield Gardens.

“Students across Southeast Queens have been forced to endure years of systemic disinvestment in their schools, punctuated by a seemingly endless cycle of co-locations that further devalues the education our children receive,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “Throughout this process, it was clear that co-locating Success Academy with MS 72 and SGEC would present significant and entirely avoidable challenges for both campuses, negatively impacting the education of our public school students.

“Our unrelenting focus must be on reaffirming our promise to improving public education, especially in historically underserved communities like Southeast Queens. That’s why I’m proud to have allocated more than $22 million to our borough’s public schools over my first two years in office, including $900,000 in funding across MS 72 and SGEC alone, and I am deeply committed to working with all our partners in government and education to further uplift these students, their families and their educators — all of whom are deserving of our support.” Press Release