By Christina Arlotta
During its Oct. 16 meeting, the Hempstead School Board expressed concern and dismay about the incoming Diamond Charter School, which was approved by the SUNY Charter Schools Institute Oct. 2 and is expected to open in the district in September 2026.
Members of the Hempstead board, echoing the sentiments of other public-school officials across New York State, said they believe their enrollments and budgets will be hurt because of the new charter school.
“Looking at our enrollment figures, at least 50% of our students in the Hempstead Union Free Preschool District will be attending a charter school or a special needs site for the 2025-2026 school year,” Hempstead Superintendent Susan Johnson said. “It’s very disturbing and very real. We need to start focusing on this reality right now because it’s going to impact our future budgets in the district.”
Rodney Gilmore, Hempstead’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said he thought similarly, adding that the Diamond charter should be separately funded by Albany rather than Hempstead residential property taxes.
“The taxpayer’s money is what is funding this [the school district] and the charter,” Gilmore said. “Now, if they [charter schools] want to have a separate source of funding for the state to give them, fine. But it’s coming out of the public’s pocket to pay them, and it’s not right.”
When completed, the Diamond Charter School is initially expected to serve 162 students in kindergarten through first grade, adding students in elementary grades each year and eventually serving 486 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to its application and charter approval with SUNY.
Charter schools, like traditional public schools, are publicly funded by local taxpayers. Charter schools were instituted in New York State to compete with district schools, particularly in underperforming urban areas, in order to provide parents with more choices for their children.
Charters have more autonomy to manage their affairs than district schools. Governed by trustees, instead of school boards, these not-for-profit schools can offer longer school days and/or years, flexible teaching practices and selective admission rules, none of which are permitted by state law in public schools. In many cases, they have performed better than their district counterparts, often with higher reading and math proficiencies and graduation rates, but not always.
According to the New York State Education Department, there are currently 357 charter schools operating or approved for operation in the state. Most are in the five boroughs of New York City, the Capitol Region and Western New York. Diamond will be the eighth charter school on Long Island, and the third in Hempstead behind the Academy Charter School and the Evergreen Charter School.
In a phone interview with The Advocate, the executive director of the Diamond Charter School, Mark Crusante, refuted the budgetary arguments of Hempstead school officials. He said a quality of education for the child is most important.
“I know charter schools are controversial,” Cusante said. “And I know a lot of people will say that it takes away resources from our school district. But, at the end of the day, it’s not, because that resource is still going to that child. I always say to take away the argument for money, because that’s always the bottom line that most school districts have. But it’s not about the money. It’s about the child.”
The ongoing arguments between both sides will no doubt continue over the coming months. Hempstead School Board President Victor Jay Pratt said he hopes that through all the crossfire, the voices of Hempstead school officials and residents will be heard.
“The idea of having the option to go to a public school or a charter school, I’m not against that,” Pratt said. “We just hope to be heard because it doesn’t seem like we’re being heard.”
