Queens Schools: 10,000 More Seats By September

By September 2003, Queens will have 10,259 added spots in its public schools. Most of those spots will be created through the construction of new schools or additions to current schools.The Department of Education is also securing new leases to create more classroom space.
More than half of the 20,000 additional seats planned for the citys overcrowded public school system will be located in Queens, according to documents released by the Department of Education last week.
On Thursday, March 6, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein promised to deliver crucial space to the burdened system via office conversions and a variety of capital plans, part of the Bloomberg administrations wider push to reform city schools.
The new schools include PS 266, PS / IS 208 and the High School of Teaching Professionals in Glen Oaks; PS 270 in Rosedale; PS 268 and the High School for Law & Public Safety in Jamaica; PS 239 in Ridgewood; and PS 234 in Astoria.
Additions will be made to IS 5 in Elmhurst, IS 61 in Corona and IS 77 in Ridgewood. Through new leases, spots will open up at the International Baccalaureate High School and the High School for Information Technology in Long Island City.
The department also plans to convert some of its administrative offices into classroom space at two Bayside schools, MS 74 and PS 46.
Current plans also call for another 2,026 seats in Queens by September 2004, with most located in three new schools PS / IS 499 in Flushing, PS 254 in Richmond Hill, and PS 253 in Far Rockaway.
The borough, overall, will gain 12,321 additional classroom seats over the next year and a half if the department follows through with its proposals.
"In January, I made a commitment to the parents of New York Citys public school children that we would drive resources from the bureaucracies directly to the classroom," said Bloomberg during a press conference at a Bronx school. "The restructuring of the school system presents us with an opportunity to move administrators out and children in and create the most new seats since 1989."
However, critics question the feasibility of such an ambitious expansion, projected to cost $5 million to $10 million citywide, according to The New York Times.
"Even when the renovation is $50,000, I have found its often terribly over budget, its done months after they say its going to be done," said City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, the chairwoman of the Councils education committee. "Im concerned about how theyre going to do this. Their ambitions dont relate much to my experience."
Some of the construction projects outlined by the Department of Education, such as the addition to IS 5 in Elmhurst, had already been scheduled to be completed by last year.
And, even if the proposed classroom space is available by the beginning of the new school year, questions still remain about the hiring of more teachers and the completion of a universal curriculum for most city public schools.
During Thursdays press conference, the mayor and chancellor also announced that, over the summer, 10 Learning Support Centersthe headquarters for the new regional divisionsand three satellite offices will open in space currently occupied by the district headquarters and other administrative facilities.
 
The following are Learning Support Centers located in Queens:
Division 3
30-48 Linden Place
90-27 Sutphin Boulevard
Division 4
28-11 Queens Plaza North
Division 5
82-01 Rockaway Boulevard