By Madina Toure
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña had some harsh words at a roundtable discussion Friday morning for former PS 120 Principal Joan Monroe, who was reassigned after she banned students who did not pay a required fee to attend a Flushing school carnival.
Speaking at a community and ethnic media roundtable at Tweed Courthouse at 52 Chambers St. in Manhattan, she said her “personal and professional belief” is that fund-raising should not take place during the school day and that kids could receive tickets for fund-raising activities outside school hours.
“How could you have had anything where students are looking right through a glass window to something that’s not available to them?” she said.
Elizabeth Rose, deputy chancellor for the Division of Operations, said the department is working to find new sites for overcrowded schools, noting that it is building an addition to PS303 to make more seats available to PS144 and PS196 students in Forest Hills.
“In terms of overcrowding, Queens certainly has many problems where we have significant overcrowding. We are searching for new sites to build new facilities,” Rose said.
Fariña also addressed concerns about an official school holiday for Lunar New Year, which continues to be in the works.
“The reality is that there’s a lot attached to this,” she said.
Last fall, the DOE enrolled 53,000 children in full day pre-kindergarten, according to Josh Wallack, deputy chancellor of strategy and policy.
Earlier this month, the city offered seats to 70,000 families, he said. The department plans to open the second round of enrollment Monday.
Fariña also fielded questions about diversity of teachers and books in schools, translation services and summer meals for students.
