While Francis Lewis High School might be the most overcrowded school in the city, it’s certainly not alone among jam-packed Queens high schools.
Queens has 10 schools located throughout the borough that have more than 3,000 registered students, according to unaudited Department of Education (DOE) statistics for April of 2010; whereas the other four boroughs combined have only 11 high schools with more than 3,000 students.
Francis Lewis placed at the top of the list with 4,444 students in April, while Benjamin Cardozo High School ranked second with 3,975 students and Forest Hills High School third with 3,857 students. In addition, John Adams High School, Richmond Hill High School, Hillcrest High School, John Bowne High School, Bayside High School, Long Island City High School and William C. Bryant High School all had more than 3,000 students.
Comparatively, Brooklyn had six high schools with more than 3,000 students, the Bronx and Staten Island two and Manhattan one.
In addition, Queens has also surpassed Brooklyn for the most registered high school students, according to the unofficial April DOE statistics. In April, Queens high schools had 72,905 registered students whereas Brooklyn had 71,672. In September of this school year, Brooklyn had 79,393 students whereas Queens had 78,155.
“We need more buildings, we need more places to have high schools out there, and we need to improve the image of some of the schools that are not as popular in the area,” said Queens City Councilmember Mark Weprin, who represents areas in eastern Queens and is on the education committee in the City Council.
The Department of Education (DOE) said it plans to create 2,700 additional secondary school seats in the borough next year including 750 seats specifically for ninth graders.
In addition, the city still hopes to phase out Beach Channel, Jamaica and Business, Computer Applications and Entrepreneurship – three schools with low demand – and replace the schools with options that will attract more students.
David Solano, PTA President at Bayside High School, said his school is already feeling the overcrowding crunch.
Solano believes that the capacity of the school is 2,100, although he said the DOE number is more than 2,700. However, both of those numbers are significantly less than the more than 3,500 students currently enrolled at the school. Solano said he will be seeking help from local elected officials to get the message across to the DOE.
“We want to tell the office of student placement [at the DOE] there’s no room at the inn,” Solano said.
CROWDED QUEENS HIGH SCHOOLS
The following numbers reflect registered Queens high school students as of April 2010 and are courtesy of the Department of Education. They are unaudited and unofficial.
Francis Lewis – 4,444
Benjamin Cardozo – 3,975
Forest Hills – 3,857
Bayside – 3,536
Long Island City – 3,203
John Adams – 3,177
John Bowne – 3,105
Hillcrest – 3,103
Richmond Hill 3,035
William C. Bryant – 3,024
