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Forest Hills School Gets New Trailer to Alleviate Overcrowding

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | September 9, 2015 4:03pm
 Local elected officials are hoping the school will get an extension in the future. 
Forest Hills School Gets New Trailer to Alleviate Overcrowding
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QUEENS — As the Department of Education tries to remove classroom trailers from school yards, P.S. 144 in Forest Hills has just received a new one.

But the trailer, which was fought for by local parents and elected officials, is a welcome addition to the school to help with overcrowding while keeping kids in their neighborhoods. It will house fifth graders and help save two pre-k classes that faced cuts. 

"It is thrilling to walk through the gates of P.S. 144 and see the school trailer in the schoolyard," said Pam Chowayou, one of the parents who advocated for it. "That trailer represents the culmination of our community's efforts to keep our pre-k and kindergarten kids at their locally zoned schools this fall."

But the new trailer is only meant to be a short-term solution to the problem of overcrowding. In the future, advocates said they want the DOE to replace the trailer, which is supposed to stay at P.S. 144 only for this school year, with an extension to the building.

In April, dozens of families in Forest Hills received letters from the Department of Education that their kindergartners zoned for P.S. 144 were waitlisted and could be sent to other District 28 schools — sometimes outside of Forest Hills, including P.S. 206 in Rego Park, P.S. 117 in Briarwood and P.S. 99 in Kew Gardens.

In May, the DOE decided to cut two pre-k classes at the school to add more kindergarten seats, since kindergarten is a mandatory program, while pre-k is not.

As a result, dozens of families who applied for pre-k had to be waitlisted, including 34 children whose siblings already attend P.S. 144.

“It would be a hassle to have to go to another school and then bring their other kids here," said Tevin Grant, 39, whose children Morgan, 7, and Mason, 9, attend P.S. 144.

The trailer allowed the school to place fifth graders in the trailer and accommodate the pre-k classes that were previously cut.

The students said they don't mind.

“Originally, I wasn’t looking to be in the trailer but now that I’m in the trailer it doesn’t seem like the worse thing that could happen,” said Kyla Rosin, 10.

She worried though that she and other students will have to walk over to the main school building in order to participate in various school activities, which may be inconvenient in the wintertime.

Some parents also worried that the trailer may stay at the school much longer than expected.

“They usually die before they are moved,” said Teresa Feddern, 65, whose grandson, John Paul, 10, will be studying in the trailer. The trailers' useful life is between 10 and 20 years.

“When you have the schoolyard this big, you build a building,” Feddern added. “It’s such a waste of money,” she said of the trailer. 

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, whose two sons also attend P.S. 144, said that she and Assemblyman Alan Hevesi have asked the DOE to consider building an extension to the school building.

"We are hoping to hear back on that soon," said Katz. 

Jason Fink, a spokesman for the DOE said in a statement that the agency remains "committed to addressing school overcrowding and we are in a continuing dialogue with families, community members and elected officials to ensure we are doing everything possible to provide supportive learning environments for our students."