Dec. 29, 2011 By Christian Murray
Several parents and educators have complained for years that Sunnyside and Woodside schools are overcrowded—filled with trailers that were once playgrounds.
However, that seemingly intractable problem may finally be changing. There have been a series of discussions that have taken place this week that are likely to lead to the expansion of P.S. 11 in Woodside, which is located at 54-25 Skillman Ave. Such an expansion, which looked implausible earlier this month, may also involve the purchase of land nearby to create another school.
Additionally, the construction of a new elementary school between 43rd and 44th Streets (between Queens Blvd and 47th Ave.) is on track, with 80% of the plans complete and a scheduled opening date of Sept. 2014.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said he has been pushing the city hard for the creation or expansion of these schools. “P.S. 11 is about 120% capacity,” he said, adding that he had a meeting with the Lorraine Grillo, chief executive of the School Construction Authority, this morning, about schools in the district.
“We will know in a few weeks whether there will be an expansion to P.S. 11 or a new school,” Van Bramer said.
At a meeting early December, a number of parents from P.S. 11 were told by an official from the School Construction Authority that a long-planned expansion to that school would not take place.
Educators, students and parents pushed back hard, rattling off a list of woes — as they begged the city to do something about it.
P.S. 11 Principal Anna Efkarpides said that the school had a trailer that was about a decade ago that was falling apart. She said the trailer has had tiles fall on children. Furthermore, Efkarpides said she had a staff member who fell through the floor.
Van Bramer said that the initial expansion was cancelled since the engineers who investigated the location (the north eastern area of the site) said they couldn’t build there. “The engineers have been out on the school site this week to explore ways to see if there is another part of the site where an expansion can take place.”
Meanwhile, the new primary school to be located at 45-46 42nd Street is likely to alleviate school overcrowding at P.S. 199 (39-20 48th Ave.), which has been a sore point for local parents for some time, Van Bramer said.
The property, which runs from 42nd through to 43rd Street (between Queens Blvd and 47th Ave), is currently vacant land, and was once the site of the Sunnyside Jewish Center.
Meanwhile, Van Bramer said he is continuing to push the construction authority to invest funds in I.S. 125 (46-02 47 Ave.) where overcrowding is an issue at that school too.
School site (Photo: QueensPost)
Location of new school at 45-46 42nd St. (file art)[/caption]
