QUEENS — Several Queens elected officials sent a letter to the Department of Education demanding it address the kindergarten crisis in Forest Hills that's forcing kids to trek further because their zoned schools couldn't fit them.
Dozens of students zoned for P.S. 196 and P.S. 144 were wait-listed and could be sent to schools farther away in District 28, sometimes outside of Forest Hills, including P.S. 117 in Briarwood and P.S. 139 in Rego Park.
Overcrowding has become a significant problem in Forest Hills, a neighborhood that's increasingly attracting young families with children, and schools aren't keeping up, elected officials said.
“The educational plans of hundreds of children and families have been cast into disarray due to current DOE procedures regarding building capacity that have not been appropriately adjusted to reflect the current realities of our public school system,” elected officials wrote in the April 24 letter, which was signed by State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, among others.
They also demand the agency address the growth by "implement[ing] a kindergarten (building capacity plan) placement system that will adapt to the growing need for kindergarten seats in our community."
P.S. 196 has 150 kindergarten seats and wait-listed 52 kids. P.S. 144 offers 100 seats and has 64 students waiting, according to data provided by the DOE.
Parents said last week that the list for P.S. 144 has grown to 70 students, but the DOE would not immediately provide the current waitlist numbers.
The problem “must be addressed using annexes, additions to existing buildings or rezoning to underutilized spaces,” elected officials stated in the letter, which was also signed by City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz and state senators Toby Ann Stavisky and Joseph Addabbo.
Local families started a petition last week pushing the DOE to come up with a long-term solution to the problem. As of Wednesday morning, the petition gathered about 430 signatures.
The DOE said Wednesday, it's working to ensure that "every student has a high-quality kindergarten education."
But at this point, waitlists are managed by individual schools and the students will most likely get into their zoned schools as parents choose other options and kids drop off the list, a DOE spokesman said.
The city is also planning to open a new elementary and middle school in the Forest Hills area by 2019, the agency said.
