City officials yesterday marked 17 schools for closure starting this summer — including a dozen that were flagged as seriously struggling last year by the state.
They said another batch of school closures would be announced today.
“Ultimately, we know we can better serve our students and families with new options and a new start,” said Deputy Schools Chancellor Marc Sternberg.
Critics said the identified schools, which include the 3,000-student Herbert Lehman HS in The Bronx and the 1,700-student Sheepshead Bay HS in Brooklyn, serve a much greater proportion of high-poverty and special-needs kids than the average school.
“They’ve been overloading these schools with challenging kids and then they identify them as schools they’re going to close,” said Norm Fruchter, policy analyst for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
Preliminary 2012 graduation rates at the eight targeted high schools ranged from a low of 31.2 percent at Jonathan Levin HS for Media and Communications in The Bronx to a high of 61.4 percent at Choir Academy of Harlem.
The 17 schools are:
High School of Graphic Communication Arts
M.S. 45/S.T.A.R.S. Prep Academy
Choir Academy of Harlem
Bread & Roses Integrated Arts High School
M.S. 203
Herbert H. Lehman High School
P.S. 064 Pura Belpre
Jonathan Levin High School for Media and Communications
MS 142 John Philip Sousa
Freedom Academy High School
P.S. 167 The Parkway
J.H.S. 166 George Gershwin
J.H.S. 302 Rafael Cordero
Sheepshead Bay High School
General D. Chappie James Middle School of Science
P.S. 140 Edward K Ellington
Law, Government and Community Service High School