QUEENS — An extension that will provide 330 seats will replace a trailer at an overcrowded Forest Hills school, the Department of Education announced Tuesday.
According to the DOE, the project at P.S. 144 on 69th Avenue is just entering the design phase, and is scheduled to be completed by September 2019 at a cost of $40 million to 50 million.
P.S. 144 has struggled with overcrowding this year.
Over the summer, the DOE installed a trailer to alleviate the problem after the school faced the kindergarten crisis in spring, when dozens of families were told there was not enough space for their children at their zoned school.
The trailer was meant as a short-term solution and local elected officials, including Queens Borough President Melinda Katz — whose two sons attend P.S. 144 — and state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, asked the DOE to consider building an extension to the school building.
"Avoiding disruption to the school community as the school grows is important to each child's whole experience," said Katz in a statement. "Fortunately at P.S. 144, the administration has committed to this longer-term solution. We look to continue such solutions at other overcrowded schools throughout the borough.”
Local parents said they were thrilled to hear the news.
"It felt extremely satisfying to be witness of the end result of such hard work by the parents, administration and this community's elected officials who fought for our kids," said Jon Krosney, whose 5-year-old daughter, Winter, just entered kindergarten at P.S. 144. She was initially among more than 70 students who were waitlisted at the school in spring.
In April, dozens of families in Forest Hills received letters from the DOE that their kindergartners zoned for P.S. 144 were waitlisted and could be sent to other schools around District 28 schools, including in Rego Park, Briarwood and 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, and 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 attended P.S. 144.
After numerous protests, the DOE agreed to install the trailer at the school over the summer to accommodate two classes.
“Our schools are growing and seats are increasingly scarce,” Katz added. “Overcrowding and the inability of school districts to house zoned kids has become a foreseeable issue."
