Effort to halt school closures hits a snag
Two Paterson trustees now wait for hearing
By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press
PATERSON - Two Board of Education members trying to stop the district from eliminating the city's four choice elementary schools were dealt a setback on Tuesday, July 28, [2026] by a state administrative law judge.
..... Board members Kenneth Simmons and Corey Teague previously expressed hopes that the judge, Patrice Hobbs, would make a summary decision and rule that the Paterson district violated state law that covers school closures.
..... But Hobbs decided to hold hearings on August 10 [2026] and 12
to seek evidence on whether the district's sure law.
..... Students who previously attended the four choice programs - Alexander Hamilton Academy, Norman S. Weir School, Young Men's Leadership Academy and Renaissance School 1 - have already been reassigned to district schools in the neighborhoods where they live for the coming school year.
..... Administrators, teaches and other employees at those schools also have been transferred to different positions.
.....
"The central issue to be resolved is whether the termination of the choice programming constitutes a school closure," Hobbs wrote in her decision issued Tuesday. [07/27/2026]
.....
The judge said that if the buildings hat housed the choice programs are not sued for educational purposes, that would constitute closures.
..... But if they are used "as a school facility," Hobbs wrote, then the termination of the choice programs would be permitted.
..... Superintendent Laurie Newell's administration has said the Alexander Hamilton building would be converted to Paterson's Newcomers High School and Norman S. Weir would be used as a school for children with special needs. School 1 would become part of nearby School 26, and the young Men's Academy would be used as a place where special education and multilingual students would undergo evaluations, district officials said.
.....
Parents last winter protested the district's plan to eliminate the choice schools, noting that several of them achieved test scores much higher than those of other city schools. Parents also complained that some of Paterson's neighborhood schools were not safe.
..... Teague said Wednesday [07/28/2026] that he was disappointed by Hobbs' decision. Neither Simmons nor school board President Joel Ramirez, a staunch supporter of eliminating the choice programs, responded to messages seeking their comments on the situation.