Crowding? What crowding? says Board of Ed
Posted
By Kate McNeil
Good news — only two local elementary schools are overcrowded. That is, if kindergarten classes are capped at 25 and fourth- and fifth-grade rooms enroll no more than 31. But if class sizes were reduced to the Department of Ed’s “target” numbers almost all eight local elementary schools would be bursting at the seams.
The School Construction Authority released its Enrollment, Capacity and Utilization report, a yearly analysis on the overcrowding of city schools, on Oct. 30. The report — a 401-page behemoth with a dizzying amount of numbers and percentages — compared each school’s enrollment to its building’s capacity.
The gray area comes with the word “capacity.” Using a six-step calculation method the DOE was “too generous” in their estimations, some principals say, sweeping the overcrowding predicament under the rug.
PS 24 Principal Phillip Scharper said his school is overcrowded, at 117 percent capacity to be exact. But the report claims the Spuyten Duyvil school is underutilized, with room to fit 35 more students.
The report also has the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141’s capacity topping out at 1,559 students — 315 more than are currently enrolled.
“That’s another lunch period, that’s two PE periods,” said Principal Lori O’Mara, who said the number was exaggerated. The new principal said while her classrooms are full, it’s the common spaces that are even more packed.
To accommodate students in the tiny cafeteria, the school holds its first lunch period at 10:15 a.m. The gymnasium, built 50 years ago to accommodate just a junior high, is also crowded.
“It’s not about how many more can we fit in classrooms, it’s about how we can fit them in common spaces,” Ms. O’Mara said. “We’re starting a letter writing campaign to be included in the next capital plan. We can’t really grow until we have space to grow into.”
The annual report calculated two capacity figures — one using historical class sizes, and the other using smaller “target” class sizes. Using the “historical method,” with larger classes, PS 7’s capacity is 721 students. Using the “target method,” with a 20-student maximum in kindergarten through the third grade, PS 7’s capacity drops 100 students to 620.
Using old room capacities, the the Robert J. Christen School, PS 81, and PS 207 are overcrowded — but if smaller class sizes are taken into account, every local elementary school except PS/MS 37 would be overcrowded.
“It’s sporadic,” said PS/MS 37 Principal Ken Petriccione. “I don’t have any room in fifth and seventh grade, but I have a lot in sixth.”
“They send us kids in the worst way,” said one principal who wished to remain anonymous. The Office of Student Enrollment, Planning and Operations “sends you attendance sheets everyday and you get new kids, you don’t know who they are.”
The report found that PS 310, notorious for overcrowding, is only using about two-thirds of its capacity. Elizabeth Cardona, acting principal at PS 310, said that number is inaccurate.
“We are not overcrowded, but we are very near capacity,” she said.
Ms. O’Mara added that sometimes it’s not so much about space as it is about staffing.
“Yes sometimes you’ll walk by a classroom and it’s empty,” she said. “We can only fund as many teachers as we can fund.”
She was also wary of the DOE’s calculations, saying that sometimes they count offices as part of the school’s total square footage. Schools are required by law to provide at least 20 square feet per student.
Good news — only two local elementary schools are overcrowded. That is, if kindergarten classes are capped at 25 and fourth- and fifth-grade rooms enroll no more than 31. But if class sizes were reduced to the Department of Ed’s “target” numbers almost all eight local elementary schools would be bursting at the seams.
The School Construction Authority released its Enrollment, Capacity and Utilization report, a yearly analysis on the overcrowding of city schools, on Oct. 30. The report — a 401-page behemoth with a dizzying amount of numbers and percentages — compared each school’s enrollment to its building’s capacity.
The gray area comes with the word “capacity.” Using a six-step calculation method the DOE was “too generous” in their estimations, some principals say, sweeping the overcrowding predicament under the rug.
PS 24 Principal Phillip Scharper said his school is overcrowded, at 117 percent capacity to be exact. But the report claims the Spuyten Duyvil school is underutilized, with room to fit 35 more students.
The report also has the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141’s capacity topping out at 1,559 students — 315 more than are currently enrolled.
“That’s another lunch period, that’s two PE periods,” said Principal Lori O’Mara, who said the number was exaggerated. The new principal said while her classrooms are full, it’s the common spaces that are even more packed.
To accommodate students in the tiny cafeteria, the school holds its first lunch period at 10:15 a.m. The gymnasium, built 50 years ago to accommodate just a junior high, is also crowded.
“It’s not about how many more can we fit in classrooms, it’s about how we can fit them in common spaces,” Ms. O’Mara said. “We’re starting a letter writing campaign to be included in the next capital plan. We can’t really grow until we have space to grow into.”
The annual report calculated two capacity figures — one using historical class sizes, and the other using smaller “target” class sizes. Using the “historical method,” with larger classes, PS 7’s capacity is 721 students. Using the “target method,” with a 20-student maximum in kindergarten through the third grade, PS 7’s capacity drops 100 students to 620.
Using old room capacities, the the Robert J. Christen School, PS 81, and PS 207 are overcrowded — but if smaller class sizes are taken into account, every local elementary school except PS/MS 37 would be overcrowded.
“It’s sporadic,” said PS/MS 37 Principal Ken Petriccione. “I don’t have any room in fifth and seventh grade, but I have a lot in sixth.”
“They send us kids in the worst way,” said one principal who wished to remain anonymous. The Office of Student Enrollment, Planning and Operations “sends you attendance sheets everyday and you get new kids, you don’t know who they are.”
The report found that PS 310, notorious for overcrowding, is only using about two-thirds of its capacity. Elizabeth Cardona, acting principal at PS 310, said that number is inaccurate.
“We are not overcrowded, but we are very near capacity,” she said.
Ms. O’Mara added that sometimes it’s not so much about space as it is about staffing.
“Yes sometimes you’ll walk by a classroom and it’s empty,” she said. “We can only fund as many teachers as we can fund.”
She was also wary of the DOE’s calculations, saying that sometimes they count offices as part of the school’s total square footage. Schools are required by law to provide at least 20 square feet per student.
