All Out Of Space: L.I.C. Students Have Nowhere To Learn

Sacrifices abound. Sixth grade has been eliminated, as has pre-K. In addition, the Parks Department maintains control of the grounds outside, greatly limiting the amount of space students have for sports. Unlike many of their suburban counterparts, there is no football, baseball, or soccer field at P.S. 112.
"Things have gotten progressively worse," said Vice-Principal Stephanie Kollar. "Things havent been this bad in almost 10 years."
A rising immigrant population and a lack of suitable sites to build new schools has put a strain on all of Queens. However the burden may be most evident at a school such as P.S. 112. Seventy-six special education students, suffering with various degrees of both mental and physical handicaps, attend classes daily at the school. One classroom, 109-B, was filled to capacity with 12 special ed students and eight adult supervisors. Confined to its limited space, the rooms library and computer center has been greatly reduced, frustrating both teachers and students alike. And, with simply nowhere else to store them, wheelchairs and crutches litter the hallways outside special ed classrooms, creating a virtual disabled parking lot.
The situation deteriorates even further at the schools nursing station which has become reminiscent of many of Queens hospital waiting roomsovercrowded with patients but simply not enough staff to attend to provide immediate attention. On average, the schools three nurses see 321 students monthly, or more than 20 per day. "These are very difficult conditions," said Board of Education nurse Renee Lewis.
The Board of Education has promised to bring in transportable classrooms, but the schools principal, Gloria Stratford, said they dont even have the space for them. "We dont have enough footage right now," said Stratford.
In spite of all that awaits them on any given day, teachers at 112 are tolerant of the system, refusing to change their focus from their top prioritythe students entrusted in their care. "We have very little teacher turnover," said Stratford. "But we realize, its not an ideal situation."
Many of the problems of P.S. 112 can be summed up through a tour of room 4-02. The only classroom on the schools top floor is shared by two classes and teachers at once17 on one side, 11 on the other. Noise interference provides obvious problems, as does an uncomfortable heat which engulfs much of the floor.
Understaffed, but greatly overcrowded, students and teachers at P.S. 112 refuse to give up hope on a school with seemingly unmanageable problems, and a system that all too often is unfair to the young.