Tiffany Rodriguez-Noel’s son attends The Riverside School for Makers and Artists, a K-8 public school on the Upper West Side.

Now, she is among a group of parents pushing back against a Department of Education proposal that would eliminate the school’s middle grades.

The Department of Education has declined to call the move a closure, instead describing it as a “truncation” — a plan that would remove grades six through eight from the school.

What You Need To Know

The DOE is proposing to remove grades 6-8 from Manhattan’s Riverside School for Makers and Artists, calling it a “truncation,” not a closure

The plan would relocate another school into RSMA’s middle school building

Parents say the school needs more support, not cuts, citing staff losses and resources for English language learners

A public hearing is set for April 13, with a final vote expected April 29

The proposal also includes relocating the Center School, a grades 5-8 program, into RSMA’s middle school building if approved.

Parents say Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, the former superintendent of District 3, initially proposed the plan.

“We’re not closing any schools. There’s no proposal to close schools. There’s a proposal to resite one school and to truncate the middle school of one of our schools,” Samuels told NY1. “This plan sets up an opportunity for all of our schools to become robust as opposed to more under-enrolled, underperforming schools.”

Parents argue the school’s struggles are tied to a lack of support, not performance by students or staff.

“I’m not fighting for a failing school. I’m fighting for a school that has been failed and we want it fixed,” Rodriguez-Noel said. “We’ve lost 50 teachers in two years. We’ve lost four APs, all because of the lack of support from the district. They’re fully aware of this. One hundred community parents have left because their children weren’t learning, not because our teachers aren’t teaching, but because the district isn’t supporting or giving provisions.”

Rodriguez-Noel said the school has enrolled more than 500 Spanish-speaking migrant students over the past three years, many of whom she said are welcomed by the community. According to city data, nearly half of RSMA’s students are English language learners.

She said teachers were not given adequate support to meet those needs.

“Our teachers were given electronic translators, if they were lucky,” she said. “Some received a sheet of paper that said, ‘Hola equals hello.’ ‘My name is mi nombre,’ and figure it out.”

In response, the Department of Education said it has taken steps to expand support, including increasing the number of teachers certified in English as a new language and adding staff.

“This includes strengthening in-building capacity by hiring a bilingual counselor, an instructional coach, and additional leadership staff to support teaching and learning,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

RSMA currently has 126 students in grades six through eight. Rodriguez-Noel said relocating those students could disrupt their academic progress.

“If you take these same students, 126 middle school students that we have, and they’re already not academically competitive, and we place them in a school where the children are at grade point average, and we add in two modes of travel, what do you think is going to happen?” she said. “You’re ensuring that these children are not going to succeed.”

Rodriguez-Noel said families have already submitted middle school applications and are now in limbo as they wait to see whether the proposal moves forward. She added that joining the Center School has not been offered as an option.

Samuels said the district will work with families individually.

“The district will be working one-on-one with many families to ensure that they find a place, as we’ve done in the past and as we’ve seen be totally successful,” he said.

Mike Robles, another parent at RSMA, said he does not understand the need for the change.

“I don’t really understand why we have to sacrifice the middle school to save the lower school,” he said.

His daughter Ariana, who has an individualized education program, said she hopes she can remain at the school.

“I finally found the right school for me,” she said. “I feel really good about myself here. I’m doing a lot of work and I’m doing such good things.”

A joint public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for April 13. The Panel for Educational Policy is expected to vote on April 29.