The Department of Education (DOE) is “zoning in” on overcrowding.
The DOE is rezoning School District 30, expanding the capacity of local elementary schools to alleviate severe overcrowding. The extension will incorporate Q329, a new K-5 elementary school, set to open with three kindergarten sections in September 2013.
The new school, located at 26-25 97th Street in East Elmhurst, will serve elementary school students residing in the East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights areas of the district.
The updated school district, carved from a portion of P.S./I.S. 127’s current zone, will also impact P.S. 228, P.S. 149 and P.S. 148. According to the DOE, the four schools impacted by rezoning are an average of 200 kids over capacity.
No schools will be removed from the district and only incoming kindergartners and students new to the school system will be moed into a different school, according to the DOE.
Councilmember Julissa Ferreras believes rezoning is a major step in providing area children the education they deserve, which doesn’t involve 10 a.m. lunch times and classes taught in overflowing rooms.
“How do we move forward when our classrooms are beyond what any teachers is asked to teach safely in,” asked Ferreras. “I’m very excited and looking forward to see the groundbreaking for the four new schools that are going to be built in the area. Changing the lines ever so slightly makes a huge impact for so many families.”
If approved by the Community Education Council (CEC), the rezoning would be implemented during the 2013-2014 school year.
