QUEENS — The city plans to add a kindergarten class at Forest Hills' P.S. 196 after a group of frustrated parents wrote a letter to the Department of Education urging the agency to address waitlists at the school.
The Department of Education said Friday that the agency is planning to add the new kindergarten class, while keeping the pre-K program at P.S. 196.
“We are adding an additional Kindergarten section at PS 196 this year to accommodate more families, and we’ll continue to work with all families to ensure they find kindergarten seats that meet their needs, " Will Mantell, a spokesman for the DOE, said.
Fifty-six students zoned for the District 28 school were wait-listed this year after P.S. 196 Grand Central Parkway, at 71-25 113th St., filled its 175 kindergarten seats.
Initially, the city offered the remaining families spots in other schools, sometimes outside of Forest Hills, which the parents called “a travesty" in their letter.
“The expectation that the DOE has placed on parents to either accept that our young children be forced to commute up to 45 minutes to schools outside of their zones or wait up to and beyond the start of the coming school year to find out if our children did get into their zoned school is unreasonable and unacceptable,” the parents wrote in their letter last Thursday.
“As concerned parents, residents, and voters, we demand our children be allowed to attend their zoned schools this coming September and for that decision to be made in a timely fashion that would allow parents to properly prepare for the start of the school year.”
In their letter, parents urged the city to eliminate pre-K programs in P.S. 196 as well as nearby P.S. 303, if necessary.
But the agency said that both schools will keep their pre-K classes in 2017-2018.
The DOE also said the school will contact families from the waitlist after the break to make offers to fill the new class, and added that traditionally, many families on kindergarten waiting lists receive offers over the course of the spring and summer.
Parents said that lack of kindergarten seats is a recurring problem in the neighborhood.
Two years ago, P.S. 196 had a waitlist of 52 kids and P.S. 144 at 93-02 69th Ave. had a waitlist of 64 students.
But P.S. 144, which has since installed a trailer in its schoolyard, does not have a waitlist this year.
The DOE said that 1,074 new elementary school seats are planned for District 28, including 484 seats which will be located in a $61 million addition at P.S 303 at 108-55 69th Ave., which is currently under construction.
A 590-seat addition is also planned for P.S. 144, the agency said.
