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Hard work paid off this year for Richmond Hill High School senior Timothy Johnson. He's graduating with an 80 percent average. Besides hard work, he credits his success to his teachers.

"Teachers helped a lot, tutoring,” said Johnson. “They helped big time."

But the Department of Education says Richmond Hill does not have enough Timothy Johnsons. That's why the city put it on a list of 23 struggling schools. The city will either shut them down, turn them into charter schools, or replace part of the staff – including the principal and half the teachers.

While picking up their report cards on the last day of school Monday, students defended their school.

"The teachers are pretty easy to understand,” said Richmond Hill High School student Winston Seuratta. “I am passing the Regents. I must be doing something right."

Many students say blaming the teachers for those who do not do succeed is not fair.

"It's not necessarily the school,” said Yaritza Castillo, a fellow Richmond Hill HS student. “Maybe it's people [the students] hang around with."

Allanzandra Watkins admits her 50 percent average is her fault, not her teachers'.

"I don't know. I guess I was bored,” she said. “I knew school was about to end and I got excited."

Johnson admits he went off track at the start of the year, but decided to buckle down. Now he will go to college and pursue a music career, while continuing his education.

The DOE has not decided which schools will receive which fate. If it decides to close any of them down, it will have to hold public hearings first, and any changes to the schools would not take effect until the fall of 2011.