Editor's note: this article was first published in the Norwood News, which is out on streets now.
By Layza Garcia
The Department of Education’s revised five-year plan for school construction includes an increase of more than 1,600 new seats within School District 10 in the northwest Bronx. But it is yet to be determined where the remaining seats will go.
District 10 is the most overcrowded in the city. A report by the City Comptroller’s office last September said that primary schools in the area operate at 112 percent of capacity, while intermediate schools are at 103 percent.
Marvin Shelton, president of the district’s Community Education Council, said he is glad that the DOE is recognizing the desperate need for new school space in the community.
According to the plan, District 10 will get a total of 2,897 class seats over the next five years, Shelton said.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
New DOE Construction Plan Could Ease Crowding
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Good News on Schools Front
As promised, two pieces of good news for the Bronx! It's about schools. "In 2007, the Department of Army identified the Sgt. Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center as surplus property and slated it for closure. In December 2008, the Department of Defense recognized the Muller Local Redevelopment Authority as the official local redevelopment authority for the
1) The city has identified a parking lot on Webster Avenue near 205th Street as a possible location for a brand new 612-seat, pre-K through 8th grade school, the Department of Education has confirmed.
This would be the first school structure not being built on a playground in District 10 (the third most crowded district in New York City) in years, a major victory for school advocates like the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, whose membership was outraged when the latest capital plan again short-changed the borough.
The DOE warned that this is far from a done deal. The site has not been purchased, but the DOE is internally reviewing whether to buy it, which is the first step toward the idea becoming a reality.
2) The U.S. Army Reserve is vacating a facility and giving it up for another use in Wakefield as part of an overarching plan by the U.S. military's Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (otherwise known as BRAC).
This is great news for school advocates who want to see schools in the Kingsbridge Armory's northern annex buildings.
Currently, the annex buildings house somewhere around 125 to 140 state military soldiers and staffers. They are open to moving, but need to find a new home, one that won't cost them anything, before they go anywhere, according to Eric Durr, a spokesman for the State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.
They want to stay in the Bronx, Durr said. If they leave the Boogie Down, the Bronx would be the only borough without a state military presence.
Here's where it gets tricky. Durr, who admittedly did not know exactly how BRAC works, said what most likely will happen is that once the Army Reserve vacates the Wakefield facility (Durr estimated that probably wouldn't occur till 2011), it would be turned over to a local re-use authority which believed would consist of people in the community. That authority would then decided what to do with the facility.
A local school activist told us the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is also handling the Armory project, is looking into the possibility of relocating the units currently housed in the Armory into the Wakefield facility. The EDC hasn't returned a phone call or an email requesting confirmation of this. We'll continue to look into this and provide updates whenever possible.
So, while none of this is concrete, it is positive movement in the right direction and could lead to good things for the future of Bronx education.
See, told you, good news!
Update: Here's what the EDC said about the Wakefield facility, which is called the Sgt. Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center. The biggest thing is that the facility is in the hands of the mayor and the Bronx borough president. From EDC spokesperson, Janel Patterson in an e-mail:
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
News Roundup December 10
The New York Times' Web site currently features a video of interviews with South Bronx residents regarding the recent $700 billion bail-out passed by Congress.
The Daily News reports that Newark Mayor Cory Booker is hoping to convince vendors of the Hunts Point Market to move the market across the Hudson.
The News also reports that the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition is planning to turn out at tonight's District 10 Community Education Council hearing to demand more seats be included in the 2010-2014 DOE capital plan. That meeting takes place tomorrow night, Dec. 11, at 6:15pm , at Middle School 118, which is at 577 E. 179th St., near Third Ave. [Corrected from earlier post that said the meeting/rally was tonight. This Daily News story, which was posted to the Web Tuesday night, wrongly says the rally is "tomorrow."]
NY1 reports on the city's "Cribs for Kids" program, which provides free cribs to families in the South Bronx (along with Harlem and Brooklyn). As the article notes, the importance of babies having a crib to sleep in relates not just to comfort but to safety: if a baby has to sleep in the same bed as other children or adults, there is the risk of the baby accidentally being rolled over.
The city is asking for donations for its "Cribs for Kids"program.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
New from the Norwood News
Ok, we're back after an extended Thanksgiving holiday. I blame the tryptophan, a chemical found in turkey, but apparently that's not really a valid excuse for post-dinner nap lovers or blogging journalists.
In any case, we'll begin our comeback with a quick preview of stories you'll find in the newest edition of the Norwood News, on streets and online now.
Hundreds of neighborhood senior centers, including many in the Bronx, may be closed if the Mayor's "modernization" plan goes through, despite stiff opposition from our elected officials and other senior advocates.
The Department of Education's new school construction plan is underwhelming, especially in the Bronx's District 10, one of the most crowded districts in the city, where only one new school was included.
Distressed Bronx homeowners are actively fighting foreclosure thanks to workshops, new state laws and help from banks. But problems persist and prospective borrowers may now find it more difficult to secure a loan. Also, we provide a quick tip sheet for homeowners facing foreclosure.
Our special Holiday Guide (available in the print version only) provides a glimpse into the preparations for Fordham United Methodist's performance of Handel's "Messiah."
As we've mentioned here before, last week, a Bronx court found Assemblyman Carl Heastie (and his Rainbow Rebels coalition) to be the rightful leaders of the Bronx Democratic Party.
The Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park, the fourth largest in the city, is on its way to significant trail renovations, thanks to a new grant secured by the nonprofit Friends of Van Cortlandt Park.
Also, check out all of our regular features, including our online-expanded Neighborhood Notes, our Out & About arts and entertainment calendar and our ever Inquiring Photographer.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Meetings tonight
Friday, July 27, 2007
Coalition pushing for school S.E.A.T.S
Wednesday morning, organizers and youth from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (aka the Coalition), lamenting chronic overcrowding and its effects on education, stormed City Hall to demand more school seats in the Bronx and citywide.
In the process, the Coalition announced its S.E.A.T.S (Schools Exploding at the Seams) initiative, which is designed to pressure the education department, using the City Council as a lobbying arm, into adding more school seats for the current Five-Year Capital Plan, set to be revised in November. The City Council has an opportunity to weigh in on any capital plan revisions when it approves the city's budget in April.
The overcrowding issue has festered in the borough since last fall when the DOE announced it would be eliminating 1,700 Bronx seats from the capital plan, which many activists, parents, students and local politicians considered a slap in the face. For more background check out this story from the Norwood News.
The Coalition spent the morning pitching council members and then gathered on the steps of City Hall for a press conference where Coalition leaders, with a backdrop of 30 slogan-chanting students, laid out the case for more seats.
The goal, Coalition vice president Ronn Jordan said, is to make overcrowding a citywide issue. Jordan added that they were already getting a very positive response from council members, many of whom have already pledged their support for S.E.A.T.S.
Upper Manhattan's Robert Jackson (head of the education committee) and Brooklyn's David Yasky (looking like a math teacher in khakis and a pink button down) joined the Bronx's Oliver Koppell and Joel Rivera in speaking during the press conference.
Here's some video from the event.
Stay tuned, this will be an issue the Norwood News will be all over in the coming year.
