Rally To Save Beacon School Planned For Marie Curie

Adovocates of the free after-school and enrichment and childcare programs known as Beacon Schools plan to stage a rally at Marie Curie Middle School.

Earlier this month we reported that the Dept. of Youth and Community Development plans to program at Marie Curie, and six others across the city.

Councilman Dan Halloran's office estimates that the Bayside program costs about $334,000 to run each year, or approximately $893.04 per child.

Approximately 300 middle and 74 elementary school students from the area use attend the program, according to District 26 Official Kim D'Angelo. The site also runs a free public summer camp.

Working parents, , also rely on the program for child care. But the DYCD is short $2.1 million, and will be cutting the programs in neighborhoods they assessed had the lowest need for free after-school programing. "Why should our diverse community be expected to pay for a serevice the rest of the city gets for free?" D'Angelo wrote in the rally announcement, which was distributed on Wednesday.

The rally outside is planned for Tuesday, April 24, at 6p.m. The school is located at 46-35 Oceania Street, in Bayside. Contact Kdangelo@earthlink.com for more information.