NEW YORK (CNN) -- A public school in New York that will teach Arabic language and culture opened Tuesday amid accusations that it will impose a radical Islamist agenda in its classrooms.
About a dozen security guards and police officers were on patrol Tuesday when the Brooklyn school opened, mainly to shepherd the throngs of reporters covering the event.
Carmen Colon was thrilled at the prospect of sending her 11-year-old son to the school.
“I know for a fact that any American who learns Arabic will make tons of money whether it’s translation, whether it’s in the customer service area,” she said. “I thought it was the best advantage I could give my son.”
According to its Web site, Khalil Gibran International Academy’s goal is “to prepare students for college and successful careers and to foster an understanding of different cultures, a love of learning, and desire for excellence in all of its students.”
But a group called “Stop the Madrassa” insists there’s a more sinister agenda and is demanding the academy be closed.
Watch why one student withdrew from the school »
“We are paying with our public dollar for a religious school, a madrassa,” said Pamela Hall, a member of the group.
“The Arabic immigrant students will be isolated,” Hall said. “Whether that materializes instantly into terrorists, that’s a huge statement to make. But are these students not assimilating and becoming part of the American fabric? And is that potentially a problem? We think so, yes.”
Two parents who were on the design team for the school said it’s not a religious school.
“In terms of the curriculum, if it’s a New York City public school, it has to go by New York City standards,” said Deborah Howard. “I’m Jewish. I would never be a part of a school that would in any way be involved with Islamic fundamentalists.”
“To be attacked so viciously has been unbelievably unfair and quite sad,” said Reyad Farraj, another parent on the design team.
Much of the criticism was directed at the school’s Arab-American founding principal, Debbie Almontaser. Two local tabloids reported claims she had ties to Islamic extremist organizations.
The controversy reached a fever pitch when Almontaser was quoted defending the use of the word “intifada” on a T-shirt. She said in Arabic it simply means “shaking off.”
Soon after, Almontaser resigned and the city replaced her with a Jewish principal who doesn’t speak Arabic.
The verbal attacks caused Colon to pull her son out of the school.
“The people who are so against the school for me seem more like the terrorists, by terrorizing the community and making us feel that it’s unsafe for our children to be there,” she said. “They’re the ones who are terrorizing us. Not the school, not the principal and not the administration.”
Garth Harries, chief executive of the city’s Department of Education’s Office of New Schools, said 55 of the 60 slots have been filled at the school, which offers “a core sixth-grade curriculum.”
The school will begin by teaching just sixth-graders, then add a grade each year to end up with 500 to 600 students in grades 6-12, Department of Education spokeswoman Melody Meyer told The Associated Press last week.
