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DOE Panel Approves Co-Location Plan at Long Island City High School

 The Department of Education is looking to co-locate a new career and technical school in the same building as Long Island City High School, at 1430 Broadway, starting in the fall of 2014.
The Department of Education is looking to co-locate a new career and technical school in the same building as Long Island City High School, at 1430 Broadway, starting in the fall of 2014.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

LONG ISLAND CITY — The Department of Education's Panel for Educational Policy has approved a plan to place a new school in the same building as Long Island City High School, despite protests from critics who say sharing the space will negatively affect the existing Queens school.

The DOE plans to open a new Career and Technical Education high school in the building at 14-30 Broadway in September 2014, gradually reducing enrollment at LIC High School over the course of four years to make room for the new school's students.

The plan has been met with criticism from school staff, students and community leaders who say the reduced enrollment will mean a reduced budget for LIC High School, and that sharing space and resources with a separate school will threaten existing programs.

Ken Achiron, a UFT chapter leader and longtime teacher at LIC, said people at the school were "pretty upset" following Wednesday's vote. Dozens of students and several elected officials testified against the proposal at a public hearing last week.

"They do not listen to the public at public hearings, and they just do what they please," he said.

The DOE has said the new CTE school will bring another educational option to the neighborhood in addition to LIC High School, which the city says has struggled in recent years, earning "C" grades on its last three progress reports and drawing fewer applicants.

"We're delivering an incredible new Career Technical Education school for this community," DOE spokesman Harry Hartfield said in a statement. "This will be a new option that will deliver great outcomes for children, and we’re confident it will be in very high demand."

The new school will likely offer CTE programming in Information Technology, according to the DOE, specifically with interactive design, networking, and software development, and will partner with the Urban Assembly, a nonprofit that runs 21 other city high schools.