Chancellor Richard Carranza will discuss the poor conditions at PS 9, the Walter Reed School with a Queens city councilman, but has refused to meet at the school, The Post has learned.
“I wanted him to visit for the first time and see for himself,” said Councilman Robert Holden, who is waging a crusade to find a new home for PS 9’s special-needs kids.
“They said no.”
The meeting is set for Monday at Department of Education headquarters in Lower Manhattan. The time was not released, presumably to avoid press scrutiny.
“I can only speculate. They may not want me in the (PS 9) building to get more evidence,” said Holden, who has released photos and videos showing crumbling walls, dusty window sills, a gym partitioned to double as a cafeteria, and a dingy restroom with a frayed bench used to change diapers next to open urinals.
Asked why Carranza won’t meet at the school, DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson said, “We’re focused on a productive conversation about serving kids and families in the Council Member’s district, not the time or location of a meeting.”
Until The Post published an article last month, Carranza never responded to a May 1, 2018 letter from Holden outlining dilapidated and unhealthy conditions at the 116-year-old school, which is located in a diesel-fumed industrial zone. All of its students cope with disabilities.
In June 2018, former Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Rose and School Construction Authority chief Lorraine Grillo toured the school.
But Carranza himself has never visited, Holden said