Some of the students attending the Upper West Side institution, which takes up almost an entire city block were told to list their top choices for different schools and were assured by long time teachers what was happening wasn't any fault of theirs.
Louis D Brandeis High School serves a large number of special education children and recent immigrants learning English.
The school received a D on its most recent progress report, has a 4 year graduation rate of just 33 percent, suffers from low student demand and has low marks on learning environment survey.
The city says the decision to close the school in Councilwoman Gale Brewer's district happened late in the process and they held the announcement until after last week's regent's exam.
Adding the new schools, one for alternative energy, one for students two years behind, and one for college prep were created quickly to give students who want to attend a chance to enroll. "Yesterday I received an e-mail with the rest of the world, that these were the three schools," said Brewer.
The councilwoman will fight to stop the process which the city insists will include the community's input in the next phase of planning. The city plans to allow current students to continue but the last class will graduate in 2012, when the school closes.
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