At Brownsville's P.S. 233, Concerns Persist About Merger with Charter

Pictured: P.S. 233 Langston Hughes. Image via Google Maps.

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN, NY — At P.S. 233 in Brownsville, staffers are wondering what next year will look like, now that a charter school will be moving into the building.

On June 22, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), a top advisory group for the city's Department of Education (DOE), voted to allow The New American Charter School to share the public school's building starting this fall.

The move was vocally opposed by a collection of parents and teachers, but it was backed by New York schools chancellor Carmen Fariña.

According to an analysis by the DOE, P.S. 233 has a capacity to seat 954 students, well above its current level.

New American, which will be moving its Flatbush program into the building, will bring in as many as 375 K-4th graders next year, according to the DOE, while P.S. 233 is estimated to have as many as 554 students, meaning the school could be 97 percent full.

In the 2017 school year, New American will add a fifth grade, meaning it will have as many as 450 students, according to the DOE, while P.S. 233 could wind up with 559. That would mean the building could max out at 106 percent of capacity.

A top P.S. 233 official who spoke recently with Patch said she was "extremely disappointed in the decision" to combine the schools, in part because she thinks her school's enrollment numbers could surpass estimates.

The official noted that while P.S. 233 was projected to have 423 students this year, it finished the year with 507, meaning future years could also be larger than expected.

But even if the building stays within its limits, the official said she's worried programming will be lost due to a lack of space.

New American will take up the fourth floor of the building, she said, as well as nine rooms on the third floor, meaning some of the public school's rooms will have to be moved.

One of those is a prized indoor garden, the official said. A new location has been identified, she said, but "it's not a space that has the same amount of sunlight coming in."

Additionally, P.S. 233 currently has two music classrooms, each with its own room — but one of those will have to be re-purposed after the classroom shuffle. The official said she's worried that following the change, the same level of musical instruction won't be available.

"Implementing this is going to be extremely difficult," the official said, noting September is just two months away. "There are a lot of things that we have concerns about, [but] we will work in the best interest of all of the children in the building."

For its part, New American declined to speak to Patch about the move. Instead, the school sent a statement from principal Lisa Sylva offering a similar sentiment.

“We are looking forward to partnering with P.S. 233 to serve our communities and maximize educational opportunities for all families," the statement read.

When asked to comment on the concerns of P.S. 233 staffers, DOE spokeswoman Toya Holness said the department is "working closely with both schools to ensure the needs of students are being met and that all students are provided with a supportive learning environment."

For now, that leaves the statements made by Chancellor Fariña before the PEP vote.

"There's no program that's going to be taken out of the school," Fariña said, adding that New American will share "after school programs and many other things" with its new host.

"This is one of the places that I am willing to be personally committed to," Fariña said of P.S. 233. "I don't make promises I don't keep."