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Budget, Education & City Services

June 2012, Education, Health and Human Services Committee

Proposed zoning of PS/IS 281 located at 1st Avenue & 35th Street

WHEREAS, PS/IS 281, located at 35th Street & 1st Avenue, is currently under construction and slated for opening in September 2013; and

WHEREAS, PS/IS 281 will be a new public school slated to serve either K through 5^th grade or K through 8th grade; and

WHEREAS, Elementary schools in Midtown East (PS40, PS116, PS59) suffer from severe overcrowding; and

WHEREAS, Elementary school overcrowding is endemic in School District 2; and

WHEREAS, PS/IS 281 sits outside the boundaries of CB5 but would provide relief to overcrowded schools that serve CB5 children; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Education has started planning for the creation of a catchment zone for PS/IS 281; and

WHEREAS, The SCA (School Construction Authority) is currently converting the Foundling Hospital located at 17th Street and 6th Avenue into a public zoned elementary school, slated to open in September 2014; and

WHEREAS, The creation of a catchment zone is a necessary yet difficult and disruptive process that requires thorough analysis of multiple factors; therefore be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five urges DOE and the CEC to proceed with zoning PS 281 and Foundling Hospital School SIMULTANEOUSLY, which would allow for a more comprehensive analysis; and be it further

RESOLVED, Community Board Five urges DOE to preserve the spirit of neighborhoods and communities when drawing its catchment zones, as to preserve a sense of cohesion and community necessary to the concept of local elementary education, and be it further

RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends that PS/IS 281 be an elementary school serving children grades K through 5; and be it further

RESOLVED, Community Board Five urges DOE to incubate The Foundling Hospital School by zoning, hiring a Principal and faculty, and opening two sections of kindergarten classes at a satellite location (to be identified) for an opening in September 2013. 

The above resolution passed by a vote of 42 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining.