Zeta Charter Schools was slated to open in the P.S. 150 Annex in Sunnyside (Facebook)
March 19, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
A planned Zeta Charter School set to open at Sunnyside’s P.S. 150 Annex for the 2025-26 academic year has been scrapped amid widespread community and political opposition, sources say.
Critics argued the charter school would siphon much-needed funds from district public schools.
A petition launched in opposition to Zeta Charter Schools opening a location in Western Queens attracted over 400 signatures in under a week.
Council Member Julie Won, who penned a letter to Zeta Charter Schools Executive Director Emily Kim last December alongside State Sens. Kristen Gonzalez and Mike Gianaris expressing major concerns about opening a charter school in Sunnyside, said the issue is “much deeper” than simply diverting funding away from public schools in the district.
Won said opening a charter school in Sunnyside would negatively impact local schools’ ability to fill seats and attract necessary funding. She added that Zeta Charter Schools is not welcome in the district in “any way, shape or form.”
Sources close to the matter told the Queens Post that NYC Public Schools will not be moving forward with the charter school at P.S. 150 Annex. Sources did not confirm whether political or community pressure prompted NYC Public Schools to opt against the charter school plan.
However, Won said that she has not received written information that plans for a charter school at the P.S. 150 Annex will not go ahead. She also expressed concerns that the charter school would simply be moved to another location in the district.
Alexis Kaloyanides, a signatory of the petition and a candidate for Community Education Council (CEC) District 30, said she signed the petition because she was concerned by the potential presence of a charter school in the district. She contends that charter schools often focus on achieving high test scores, leading them to exclude children with disabilities and students who do not speak fluent English.
Schools operating in the New York City Public Schools System, on the other hand, are obligated to accept students of all abilities and backgrounds, Kaloyanides said.
“One of the things that charter schools promote is their high test scores,” Kaloyanides said. “In order to have those numbers go up in the rubric that they like to see, they can actually ask students to leave.
“So if a student is underperforming, they do not have to go through the process that a public school would do to get that student further assistance, be it language needs or special education needs. They simply don’t have to abide by that the way a public school does.”
The petition stated that establishing a charter school in Western Queens would divert badly needed public funds away from public schools in School District 30, negatively impacting a dozen new schools slated to open in the District.
The campaign notes that four new elementary schools, three middle schools, and five high schools will open in Long Island City, Woodside, and Sunnyside in the near future, with a total of 7,266 seats. Those against the establishment of a charter school in Western Queens stated that Zeta Charter Schools would “pull enrollment” from the new schools, preventing the schools from reaching the necessary enrollment numbers to maintain funding streams.
In an open letter to Kim, opponents to the planned charter school accused the business of “essentially stealing” necessary resources from local public schools.
