Proposal for Significant Changes in School Utilization - April 19, 2017 Panel for Educational Policy

Please find public notice for a proposal for significant changes in school utilization that is to be considered at the April 19, 2017 Panel for Educational Policy meeting, which will take place at the Long Island City High School, located at 14-30 Broadway, Queens, NY 11106. To view the public notice and to link to the full text of the educational impact statement, either scroll down or connect via the link listed in the notice text included in this email.

 

The Proposed Temporary Re-Siting of a Portion of P.S. R037 (75R037) and Co-location with I.S. R002 George L. Egbert (31R002) in Building R002 Beginning in the 2017-2018 School Year

 

I.        Description of the subject and purpose of the proposed item under consideration.

 

The New York City Department of Education (“DOE”) is proposing to temporarily re-site and co-locate eight sections of P.S. R037 (75R037, “P037R@R840”), an existing District 75 school, from its current location in building R840 (“R840”) and its adjacent transportable classroom units (R819, “TCUs”), located at 15 Fairfield Street, Staten Island, NY 10308 in Community School District 31 (“District 31”), to building R002 (“R002”) for a three year period beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. If this proposal is approved, eight sections of P037R@R840 will be temporarily re-sited to R002, located at 333 Midland Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306, also in District 31 where the school will serve students in sixth through twelfth grade for three years beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. P037R@R840 will be co-located in R002 with I.S. R002 George L. Egbert (31R002, “I.S. 2”), an existing district middle school currently serving students in sixth through eighth grades. R002 is approximately 3.7 miles from R840.

 

P037R@R840 is one of six sites of the existing District 75 school, P.S. R037, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade with the classification of autism, intellectual disability or multiple disabilities on their Individualized Education Program (“IEP”). Currently, P037R@R840 serves ten sections of middle school students in sixth through eighth grade and twenty-eight sections of elementary school students in kindergarten through fifth grade at R840 and the adjacent TCUs. If this proposal is approved, eight sections of P037R@R840 currently serving students in grades six through eight will be temporarily re-sited to R002 for a three year period beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, during which time it may serve students ranging from grades six through twelve. Of these eight sections, four are currentlyserved in R840 and the other sections are served in the adjacent two TCUs.

 

The School Construction Authority (“SCA”) has identified R840 as a location where a new addition could be built, which would allowP037R@R840 to serve all of its students in permanent space and increase the total future enrollment of District 75 students served at R840, without reliance on TCU capacity. In order for construction of the addition to begin, the TCUs must be removed. Currently, P037R@R840 is serving four sections of students within the TCUs and R840 does not have sufficient space to accommodate these students while the addition is built. Thus, the DOE is proposing to temporarily re-site these four sections currently served in the TCUs to facilitate their removal and allow for construction of the addition to commence, along with four additional sections from R840, which will allow P037R@R840 to increase its elementary enrollment at R840 to add four new elementary sections of P037R@R840 in R840 beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. Therefore, this proposal will not only allow for the construction of the addition to R840 and facilitate the removal of the TCUs, but it also has the benefit of increasing the number of elementary school sections of P037R@R840 served at R840 in the 2017-2018 school year and beyond.

 

R002 has the capacity to serve 1,254 students. During the current 2016-2017 school year, I.S. 2 is serving 867 students, yielding an estimated building utilization rate of 69%. This means that the building is “under-utilized” and has space that could be used more efficiently to accommodate additional students.  This Educational Impact Statement (“EIS”) proposes to re-site eight sections of P037R@R840 to R002, which would add approximately 46-48 additional students in the building. In the 2017-2018 school year, I.S. 2 is projected to serve approximately 860-890 students. Therefore, it is projected that in the 2017-2018 school year there will be approximately 906-938 students served in R002, yielding an estimated building utilization rate of 72%-75%. In the 2019-2020 school year, during the final year of the temporary re-siting, P037R@R840 is projected to serve 46-48 students and I.S. 2 is projected to serve 870-900 students yielding an estimated building enrollment of 916-948 students and a utilization rate of 73%-76%. Thus, if this proposal is approved, there will be sufficient space in R002 to accommodate eight sections of P037R@R840 and I.S. 2.

After the conclusion of the 2019-2020 school year, once the TCUs are removed and the construction of the addition at R840 is complete, the eight sections temporarily re-sited to R002 can be accommodated in the main building at R840 and P037R@R840 can serve all of its students in permanent space. The completed addition at R840 will also enable P037R@R840 to serve additional sections of students and increase the overall capacity available to serve District 75 students on Staten Island. After the eight sections of P037R@R840 return to R840, the DOE may reassess space in R002 and District 75 seat need across Staten Island. Any further significant change in building utilization would be subject to a separate EIS under Chancellor’s Regulation A-190.

 

II.        Information regarding where the full text of the proposed item may be obtained.

 

The EIS can be found on the Department of Education’s website at: http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/publicnotice/2016-2017/April192017SchoolProposals.

 

Copies of the EIS are also available in the main offices of I.S. 2 and P037R@R840.

 

III.       Submission of public comment.

 

Members of the public who wish to provide comments are encouraged to attend the Joint Public Hearings for this proposal and share their feedback in person. Members of the public that do not provide comments at the hearing may also provide oral or written comments as described below.  All comments must be submitted at least 24 hours in advance of the PEP meeting at which this proposal is subject to a vote in order to be mentioned in the Public Comment Analysis to be published and provided to the PEP the evening before the PEP votes.

 

Written comments can be sent to D31Proposals@schools.nyc.gov.

 

Oral comments can be left at 212-374-0208.

 

IV.      The name, office, address, email and telephone number of the city district representative knowledgeable on the item under consideration from whom information may be obtained concerning the item.

 

Name:              Max Familian

Office:              Office of District Planning

Address:           100 Gold Street, Suite 3200, New York, NY 10038

Email:               D31Proposals@schools.nyc.gov

Phone:              212-374-0208

 

V.        Date, time and place of the Joint Public Hearings for this proposal.   

 

April 3, 2017 at 6:00 PM

Building R002

333 Midland Avenue

Staten Island, NY 10306

April 6, 2017 at 6:00 PM

Building R840

15 Fairfield Street

Staten Island, NY 10308

Questions about the proposal should be directed as indicated in Section IV above.

 

Speaker sign-up will begin 30 minutes before the hearing, at 5:30 PM, and will close 15 minutes after the start of the hearing.

 

VI.       Date, time and place of the PEP meeting at which the PEP will vote on the proposed item.

 

April 19, 2017 at 6:00 PM

Long Island City High School

14-30 Broadway

Queens, NY 11106