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Sunset Park Schools Have No Kindergarten Waitlists This Year, DOE Says

 P.S. 169 in Sunset Park has previously seen some of the longest kindergarten waitlists in the city, according to reports.
P.S. 169 in Sunset Park has previously seen some of the longest kindergarten waitlists in the city, according to reports.
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DNAinfo/Alan Neuhauser

SUNSET PARK — One of Brooklyn’s most densely populated neighborhoods did not have kindergarten waitlists for the first time in years, officials said.

Sunset Park schools have seen some of the city’s longest waitlists in previous years, but additional seats and a vote to rezone the area have helped address long-standing concerns with school overcrowding.

In 2012 and 2013, there were more than 115 wait-listed kindergartners in the neighborhood each year, primarily at P.S 169, P.S. 94 and P.S. 131, said Harry Hartfield, a spokesman for the Department of Education.

In 2013, Sunset Park’s Community Education Council voted to rezone the area in order to “correct seat imbalances that occurred because some schools’ zones were too large and others were too small,” Hartfield said in an email.

“The goal of the rezoning was to ensure that we utilized the space in the district effectively, and made sure schools that had space available had larger zones,” he explained.

The vote resulted in newly zoned seats for P.S. 516 Sunset Park Avenues Elementary School, CEC president Naila Rosario said.

While the city was able to eliminate waitlists in Sunset Park, the neighborhood is part of District 15, which includes Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. There are still two schools in the district with waitlists, officials said.   

The DOE is working to reduce the waitlists in other parts of the district, with plans to open a new school this year and rezone four elementary schools.

The DOE last year leased a new space at 4222 Fourth Ave., where P.S. 516 is currently located, after working out of trailer classrooms for a year and accommodating students from other overcrowded zones, principal Jill Smith said.

The school started with only three kindergarten classrooms but now accommodates four classes, with roughly 75 percent of seats for newly zoned students, she said.

“It just tells you the demand and need in Sunset Park,” Smith said.