By Gabriel Rom
More than 50 percent of needed school seats for School District 24, which covers the neighborhoods of Corona, Ridgewood, Lefrak City, Elmhurst, Maspeth, Woodside and Middle Village, remain unfunded, according to the 2015-2019 School Construction Authority capital plan.
Of the 8,500 total needed seats, 4,045 seats have secured city funding from the SCA while the remaining 4,425 are unfunded.
That gap is the highest figure in the city in the most overcrowded school district in the five boroughs.
“We’re facing a real crisis here. The SCA is not doing their job properly,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) said. “The SCA has funding in their budget for these seats–yet this funding has not been used. Almost every single one of our schools is above capacity. There is no district in the city that they’re failing more than here in District 24”
The funded seats are divided into 1,704 seats for small public schools costing $190 million and 2,341 seats for PS/IS costing $256 million. The seats will be provided by the opening or expansion of eight elementary schools. As part of its school capacity expansion, District 24 is receiving almost $200 million more than any other school district in Queens. The eight new schools and 4,045 new seats at a cost of $446 million are a marked increased from SCA’s original capital plan, in which the district was to be given six new schools and 2,984 seats.
Crowley said a majority of seats that are funded are in schools that do not have sites.
“They are years behind on this and what makes matters worse is that the seats they have funded, they haven’t found the sites for,” she said.
According to an independent analysis from The Independent Budget Office the total 8,500 “expected” seats that are meant to come online between 2014 and 2024 would technically be enough to eliminate overcrowding. But while experts contend that the number of seats is technically enough to wipe out overcrowding, it may be far from enough.
“Based on projected enrollment, the current situation may not be accurate. District 24 is expected to have one of the largest increases of enrollment for prekindergarten through eighth grade in the next couple of years, and current need may not keep up with future need,” said Sarita Subramanian a senior education budget and policy analyst at the IBO.
In the 2010-2014 Construction Authority capital plan, more than 1,800 school seats will come online this September in School District 24, while an additional 785 seats will open in September of 2016 and 796 seats will open in September of 2017. This will put the total number for the next three years at over 3,400, which is more than double the number for any other school district in the city.
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
