DOE Proposes ‘Co-Location’ Plan At J.H.S. 226
The city Department of Education (DOE) is proposing to open a new middle school inside a South Ozone Park facility.
The new District 27 school, dubbed 27Q297, would open in September, and would grow to serve students in grades six through eight.
The agency is proposing to open the school inside the home of J.H.S. 226, at 121-10 Rockaway Blvd. in South Ozone Park, a process called co-location. The building also houses District 75 classes and a Beacon program.
J.H.S. 226 is a zoned middle school serving students in the sixth through eighth grades. In the 2012- 2013 school year, 1,369 students were enrolled. In addition, the site served 47 District 75 students in grades six through eight.
The DOE plans to admit students to the new school through the middle school application process administered by the Office of Student Enroll- ment. The school will be open to students and residents of District 27 with priority admissions for students in the same zone as J.H.S. 226.
In 2013-2014, the school would seek to enroll approximately 105-115 students in sixth grade, and approximately the same amount every year thereafter until the school reaches “full scale,” serving approximately 315-345 students in grades six through eight.
According to the DOE, the school building is under-utilized. It claims that the school has the capacity to serve 2,034 students, but only served 1,416 pupils, yielding a utilization rate of 70 percent. The agency claims that once the new middle school reaches “full scale,” the building would be between 85 to 88 percent utilized.
The Educational Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposal can be found on the Department of Education’s website at https://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/ PEP/ publicnotice/ 2012- 2013/Mar112013Proposals.htm. Copies of the EIS are also available in the J.H.S. 226 main offices.
Written comments can be sent to D27Proposals@schools.nyc.gov. Oral comments can be left by calling 1-212-374-7621.
A public hearing on the proposal will be held at the school on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 6 p.m.
Speaker sign-up will begin 30 minutes before the hearing and will close 15 minutes after the start.
The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on the proposed item on Mar. 11 at its meeting at Brooklyn Technical High School.
