DOE To Hold Hearing On P.S. 305 Proposal
The Department of Education (DOE) will hold a public hearing next month on a plan to expand a Ridgewood school into a new public school facility being built directly across from it.
If approved, P.S. 305 (Learners and Leaders), presently a early childhood center located at 378 SenecaAve. serving students from kindergarten through the third grade, would add fourth- and fifth-grade classes over a twoyear period beginning in September 2015.
P.S. 305 would also expand into a new building that the city’s School Construction Authority is erecting at 360 Seneca Ave., the former St. Aloysius School site, which is also set to open next September.
Parents at P.S. 305-which shares the same school zone as P.S. 81, located at 556 Cypress Ave.-initially presented to the DOE last fall a proposal to expand into the new school. Local elected officials and the District 24 Community Education Council also voiced support for the plan.
Because the grade expansion will enable P.S. 305 to add students from kindergarten through the fifth grade, the DOE will also rezone the boundaries of both P.S. 81 and P.S. 305.
“Based on the school’s record of academic success, additional capacity created by the new building and vast community support, the DOE approved Learners and Leaders’ grade expansion request, pending approval of this proposal by the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP),” according to a DOE public notice sent to the Times Newsweekly last week.
Once it reaches its full grade span in September 2016, according to the DOE, P.S. 305 will have a combined enrollment in both buildings between 631 and 691 students; that could increase to a stable enrollment of between 756 and 816 by the 2020-21 school year, slightly below or above the target capacity of 782 students.
The grade expansion is not expected to impact extracurricular activities that the Ridgewood YMCA operates at P.S. 305’s main campus.
The public hearing will take place at P.S. 305 on Monday night, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. Attendees may register to speak beginning 30 minutes prior to the hearing; the signup period will conclude 15 minutes after the hearing starts.
Members of the public may also submit comments to Annabelle Eliashiv of the DOE’s Office of District Planning in advance. Oral comments may be made by calling 1-212-374-7621; written remarks may be sent by email to D24Proposals@schools.nyc.gov or by standard mail to Annabelle Eliashiv, Office of District Planning, 52 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007.
