Community Education Council for District 13

Department of Education of the City of New York

David Goldsmith
President

Ed Brown
First Vice President

Council Members:

Benjamin Greene - Parliamentarian

Gregory Hagan
Renee Burke

Traciann Shaibu
Second Vice President

Sheila LeTang
Recording Secretary

Diane Stephen
Treasurer

Council Members:

Community Superintendent

Amy Shire
Robert Underwood

Ms. Barbara Freeman

June 29, 2015

School Construction Authority
30-30 Thomson Avenue
Long Island City, New York 11101
Attn.: Ross J. Holden
sites@nycsca.org
Re: Proposed Site Selection in Community School District No. 13
Dear Mr. Holden,
We write as members of Community Education Council of District 13 (CEC13), in accordance with 1731
of the New York City School Construction Authority Act, which requires CEC13 to submit written comments to
the School Construction Authority (SCA) on the site plan for the proposed construction of a 100,000 square
foot, approximately 616-seat school on 6th Avenue in Prospect Heights, to be located within the Pacific Park
development project. We understand that the construction of a public school of this size is required under the
Modified General Project Plan (MGPP) adopted by Empire State Development for the Pacific Park project, and
that as a result no alternative sites were considered.
District 13 has recently experienced significant residential growth through new housing developments,
and the Pacific Park residential development in Prospect Heights is expected to contribute to that growth, with
the first residential buildings scheduled to be open for occupancy beginning in mid-2016 and construction and
openings projected to continue on a rolling basis until at least 2025. According the SCA site proposal, the DOEs
two independent projections for K-5 student population growth for District 13 yielded expected growth of 340
students (Statistical Forecasting LLC) or 781 students (Grier Partnership) between now and 2021.
Although the site plan does not indicate the projected growth of intermediate school population, the 2014
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Pacific Park project discloses that the project
would result in a significant adverse impact to intermediate schools. Please note that the data for two of the
three intermediate schools presented in the 2014 FEIS presents a potentially misleading picture of
middle school seats actually available to area students. I.S. 571 was closed in 2013. I.S. 340, despite being
located within the confines of District 13, is a District 17 middle school, which does not provide seats to District
13 middle school students. Thus, the FEIS overstates intermediate school capacity in Sub-District 1 of District 13
by at least 550 seats.
We note that the proposed school facility is described as aprimary/intermediate school facility in the
site plan. The SCA has confirmed that this reflects the design of the building, and not its ultimate usage, which is
within the purview of the DOE to determine. After careful analysis of the Districts needs, we believe that the
most appropriate usage for the majority of this building is as a dedicated intermediate school, and we
recommend that it be constructed and built out accordingly. At the June 3, 2015 public hearing, there was near

unanimity from the Districts parents and elected officials endorsing that this facility should be used primarily as
a middle school.
The majority of District 13s middle schools are very small schools co-located in buildings with one or
more other schools. This has created and exacerbated challenges for our middle schools, which struggle to grow
and thrive in small spaces with limited enrollments. In addition, there is no District 13 middle school located in
Prospect Heights. A thoughtfully designed mid-sized middle school in this location would address some of the
capacity needs while at the same time providing equitable access to improved learning conditions to the Districts
middle school students. Our neighbors in District 15, just blocks away from the proposed AY/PP B15 site, enjoy
the benefits of high quality, larger sized middle schools such as MS 447, MS 51, and New Voices, all extremely
popular both throughout their district and within the borough as a whole. These strong middle schools help in
turn attract parents to D15 elementary schools who are confident they will have quality middle school options as
their child enters 5th grade and starts middle school admissions. District 13 simply has no equivalent middle
school in size, physical plant, or quality to schools like 447 and 51.
Moreover, we believe there is a least as much capacity to accommodate the new elementary school
students that might otherwise be accommodated within the proposed B15 site instead within at schools such as
especially - PS 9, along with PS 282, PS 133, PS 20, and PS 11, especially when consideration is made to the
significant percentage of out-of-district 13 students some of these schools presently serve. Crucially we believe
PS 9, just one block away, should be the zoned school for new residents in the Atlantic Yards / Pacific Park, and
all of the western portion of Prospect Heights between Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, as this will promote
integration of new residents with the existing Prospect Heights community. The CEC expects to take up the issue
of elementary capacity for formal resolution in Fall 2015, when schools are back in session.
We note that the proposed site is located across the street from a major sports and entertainment facility,
nearby police and fire department houses. In addition, although the immediately adjacent construction is
expected to be complete either prior to the projected Fall 2018 opening or shortly thereafter, we understand that
construction of additional residential units on nearby blocks would continue for the next seven years at a
minimum. We recognize that these conditions are not necessarily unique to this proposed site, and we believe
that likely population growth and the desire to provide appropriate facilities to the Districts students
necessitates a new school facility opening for occupancy no later than the fall of 2018. However, the sites
challenges must be considered in the design of the building, and a plan must be formed to ensure that school,
NYPD and FDNY operations do not interfere with each other.
At the public hearing, the SCA stated that because the Pacific Park developer would be constructing the
building and the fit-out, it could not make assurances that renderings or other plans would be presented to the
CEC for its review and input prior to construction and fit-out. We are unclear why the logistics of construction
should prevent meaningful community review of the plans for this building. Our collaboration with the SCA
concerning the proposed construction and fit-out of the P.S. 133 building produced significant improvements to
the learning environment, and we strongly urge the SCA and the DOE to ensure that the developer provides the
community an opportunity to provide input on the design of this building.
We also urge the SCA and the DOE to continue to engage with the CEC and the parent community in a
comprehensive planning process regarding long-term District capacity needs and pocket overcrowding, with
the aim of generating pro-active solutions that also advance the District goals of increasing the availability of and
equitable access to high quality elementary and middle schools.
We look forward to further engaging with SCA and the DOE concerning this school facility.
Sincerely,
David Goldsmith, President CEC 13
Ed Brown, 1rst Vice President CEC 13
Tracian Shaibu, 2nd Vice President CEC 13

Diane Stephen, Treasurer CEC 13

Sheila LeTang, Recording Secretary CEC 13
Benjamin Greene, Parliamentarian CEC 13
Rob Underwood, member CEC 13
Renee Burke, member CEC 13
Greg Hagin, member CEC 13

Cc:

CouncilMember Laurie Cumbo (LCumbo@council.nyc.gov)

AssemblyMember Walter Mosley (MosleyW@assembly.state.ny.us)
AssemblyMember Jo Anne Simon (simonj@assembly.state.ny.us)
Senator Velmanette Montgomery (montgome@nysenate.gov)
Senator Jesse Hamilton (Hamilton@nysenate.gov)
Community Board 8 (brooklyncb8@gmail.com)
CEC for District 13 (CEC13@schools.nyc.gov)
Superintendent Barbara Freeman (BFreeman6@schools.nyc.gov)
Thomas Taratko (ttaratk@schools.nyc.gov)
Meg Barboza (mbarboza@schools.nyc.gov)

All meetings are held at wheelchair accessible sites.

KG\

355 Park Place, Room 210 Brooklyn, NY 11238Phone: 718-636-3212Fax: 718-636-3238CEC13@schools.nyc.gov www.CEC13.org