Delayed Hispanic-Focused School in N.Y.C. Target of Probe

By Joanna Richardson

The New York City board of education has delayed the opening of a high school focusing on Hispanic culture that is the subject of a federal investigation into claims that the school would violate civil-rights laws.

The Leadership Secondary School, which was to be housed in an existing school building, will not open until next fall because the proposed site became unavailable and the project director stepped down during the planning of the school, Frank Sobrino, a spokesman for the board, said last week.

A community organizer involved with the project said the school was expected to share space in a junior high school in Community School District 1, on the lower east side of Manhattan, but the building has been...