New Schools Could Relieve CrowdingJanuary 10, 2005
By Catherine Shu
With more than 4,500 students, DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx is so overcrowded, it is literally uncomfortable. “It’s mad crowded and hot and stinky,” said April Ferguson, 17, a junior at the school.
But now relief could be on the way for Ferguson and other students in the northeast Bronx. The Department of Education plans to open two new campuses in the area by 2007, with a total of five schools. The new buildings are expected to add 2,550 new seats to school district 11, which serves neighborhoods including Wakefield and Williamsbridge. The two schools are currently being designed.
Public schools in district 11 currently operate at 105 percent capacity. Classrooms meant for less than 25 students often hold 35. The district’s enrollment is expected to increase by about 500 students in the next seven years, according to the city School Construction Authority.
Community Board 12, where the schools will be located, saw a population increase of 11.1 percent between 1990 and 2000. The area, which has a large Caribbean immigrant community, is now home to approximately 146,000 people, 23 percent of whom are 18-years-old or younger.
Funding for the new schools comes from the Department of Education’s five-year capital plan, which City Council approved in July. The plan calls for spending $13.1 billion to build and upgrade school facilities in the city and stipulates that space for 3,780 students be added to district 11 by 2009.
The city will provide $6.5 billion of the capital funds. The rest, it hopes, will come from the state. But so far, Albany has not approved the plan. Late last year, a court-appointed panel recommended that Albany spend $9.2 billion on new school facilities in the city. But the state government has still not figured out how – and if – it will do this, and Governor George Pataki could take further legal action that would delay any money for capital expenses – including the Bronx schools.
If the money does arrive, I.S./H.S. 362 will be built on the site of the old Bronxwood Dyeing Factory at East 228th St. and Bronxwood Avenue. It will have room for 1,650 students. Two separate high schools and one middle school will share the campus.
Feinberg said that the School Construction Authority had not received any complaints about building a new school on the site of the old dyeing factory. Carmen Anguiera, the district manager of Community Board 12, said most concerns voiced by community residents centered on the increase in traffic that would accompany the schools. One of the reasons Bronxwood Avenue was chosen, Anguiera said, partly because it is wide enough for angled parking on its sides.
“There was some concern from neighbors about the Bronxwood site,” said Anguiera, ”But many residents there felt that since there were so [few] sites available, having a school there would not be worse than having to bus students out to other districts.”
P.S./I.S. 189 will house an elementary school and a
middle school with a total of 950 students. It will occupy a site at Steenwick Avenue and Reed Mill Lane owned by the New York City Housing Authority. Educational themes for the school are being discussed.
According to Linda Corcoran, the construction authority’s director of real estate services, the land at Reed Mill Lane was chosen because it is city-owned and relatively easy to acquire. The city purchased the Bronxwood site, and the abandoned dye factory that sits on it still needs to be torn down.
Like all schools to be built as part of the five-year plan, the Bronx schools will include a cafeteria, full-sized gym, playground space and a library wired for computers and Internet access.
“New schools will be designed to make learning easy and to make sure that the building itself will not be a distraction,” said Corcoran, “In a lot of older schools, it’s just a battle to keep the building itself
in shape.”
The School Construction Authority recently completed environmental studies for both sites. In addition to checking for environmental hazards such as toxins in the soil, the studies also examine how new schools might affect transportation, traffic and other issues for residents in the surrounding community.
In the past, portable classrooms, or modular facilities, have been used to alleviate overcrowding. Two were installed last April at nearby P.S. 16 on Carpenter Avenue. The classrooms, which resemble large trailers, usually last approximately 10 years. The structures, however, often take over all available recreational space.
“Kids at those schools have no playground space. They end up spilling out onto the street during recess,” said Anguiera, “Hopefully we can get those portable classrooms removed so children can get their schools
back.”

Aging PopulationJuly 23, 2003 More than 8,000 residents of Co-op City are over the age of 65. The housing complex employs nurses and social workers to help provide services to the elderly residents, but it is constantly struggling for enough funding for programs.

Forgotten NeighborhoodsJuly 23, 2003 With nearly a third of the population in City Council district 12 living in Co-op City, some residents of the surrounding neighborhoods feel they do not get the same attention.

Homepage of the Community Gazette for District 12
Gotham Gazette's Community Gazettes Community news, views, and potholes for each council district
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ALL DISTRICT 12 MAJOR ISSUES New Schools Could Relieve Crowding
(Jan 10, 2005)
Aging Population
(Jul 23, 2003)
Forgotten Neighborhoods
(Jul 23, 2003)
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