DOE Plan To Create Seven New District Schools By 2020 Hindered By Building Shortage

Seven new schools are slated be added to District 20 in the next five years, but finding sites to house them is proving to be a challenge.

Capital funds have been set aside to create 4,541 seats across the locations, an effort to address overcrowding in the district, according to the Department of Education [DOE].

“The DOE is committed to reducing overcrowding and improving school facilities. We are working tirelessly to provide the high-quality facilities that help our students thrive in and out of the classroom,” said Harry Hartfield, spokesperson for the DOE.

But finding buildings large enough in Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, or Bay Ridge, where they are most needed, seems unlikely. In fact, most of the planned locations have been rolled over from the last capital budget, according to Laurie Windsor, president of the District 20 Community Education Council (CEC).

“We’ve had them in the capital plan for years. The issue is trying to find the sites. There just are no big enough properties to build a school,” said Windsor.

Windsor said she is hopeful that the DOE will find some new locations, particularly in Sunset Park and Dyker Heights, but added “beggars can’t be choosers, we’ll take whatever we can get.”

In addition, P.S. 768 – an annex for P.S. 112 – is set to open on the corner of 15th Avenue and 73rd Street this fall, adding 256 seats to the district.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the amount of seats that would be added to the district with the creation of P.S. 768.