PUBLISHED BY MOSHOLU PRESERVATION CORPORATION

School Sites Identified

By HEATHER HADDON

The city has identified some possible sites for new school construction in the perennially overcrowded region, but a lack of state funds is preventing work from progressing.

The city Department of Education (DOE) hopes to erect buildings in several schoolyards now home to temporary classrooms. Possible locations include PS 56 and 94 in Norwood, PS 46 in North Fordham, and PS/MS 95 in Kingsbridge Heights.

The buildings would provide more classrooms for the existing institutions, or act as autonomous schools in places that already have large student populations. “We don’t want to take a toll on the hundreds of kids already in the facility,” said Region 1 superintendent Irma Zardoya during a local Community Education Council meeting earlier this month.

DOE administrators say they have been combing the area for places to house seven elementary and middle schools allotted under the DOE capital plan, along with creating more high school seats on a borough-wide level. Efforts have yielded vacant spaces, and while building in play yards would eliminate recreation space, the city sees it as one of the only viable options.

“The needs of this district are so great,” said Jeffrey Shear, a high-level DOE administrator, during the meeting.

Under the proposal, children currently housed in the transportable units would be moved to another school during construction. The city is looking to lease space at Jerome Avenue and East 213th Street, which is currently a parking lot, to build a school that could absorb the overflow. DOE is also exploring a location on Creston Avenue.

None of these plans can move forward without money from the state. The capital plan is contingent on money from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, which would grant over $9 billion for construction and upgrades of city schools. Albany and the city are still wrangling over who will pay for the spending increase.

The city started moving forward on the five-year capital plan earlier this year — resulting in some facility upgrades and a new high school on Bathgate Avenue — but now cannot afford additional projects in the area. “We had to pull back on the funding,” Shear said.

The School Construction Authority is moving ahead in converting the old Fordham Library into a site for the Leadership Institute, a high school now housed temporarily at the Police Athletic League on Webster Avenue. Zardoya said that, despite a tight deadline, the school should be ready to open in the fall.

Back to Schools Index Page

News | Opinion | Schools | Features | Continuing Stories | Home
About Us | Past Issues