City Postpones Vote To Co-Locate Hell's Kitchen Schools

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — The city Department of Education will postpone a vote to co-locate the City Knoll middle school with elementary school PS 111 in Hell's Kitchen after parents voiced concerns over the proposal.

The New York City Panel for Educational Policy will now consider the proposal at its Jan. 30 meeting instead of its Dec. 19 meeting, city officials said during a Wednesday night public hearing at City Knoll.

City Knoll is currently located in a West 33rd Street building owned by the Catholic Church and the city has been notified that its lease will not be renewed for the 2019 school year. To find the school a new home — its fourth since being founded in 2014 — the city proposed moving it to the building that contains PS 111 on West 53rd Street for three years.

Both PS 111 and City Knoll parents have issues with the plan.

The city's plan fails to provide a permanent home for City Knoll, which is a critical need for the young school, parent Jay Gardener said Wednesday. Gardener said City Knoll's current situation, a year-by-year lease without long-term security, has forced the school delay initiatives for better programming, facilities and community outreach.

"It's a really young school with some great teachers and very hardworking staff and administration — and it needs the DOE's help to grow," Gardener said. "It really needs a permanent home."

Gardener described the city's plan as simply "shelving" City Knoll for three more years, saying the students and teachers at the school "deserve better."

Many parents from PS 111 also showed up to Wednesday's hearing to double-down on concerns shared during a prior hearing at the elementary school. Parents at PS 111 are worried that moving a middle school into the building will cut down on students' access to shared spaces, cut spaces for therapy services and attribute to school overcrowding.

The city's plan to locate City Knoll in PS 111 would force out The Jewish Board from its dedicated space in the building for student therapy services, a great asset for special need students, a spokesperson for the PS 111 PTA told Patch in an email. City education officials said The Jewish Board would still provide services at the school, but some PS 111 parents cast doubt on the assertion.

PS 111 parents also shared concerns that co-locating the schools would mean students have less time to use the building's gym, cafeteria and outdoor play spaces. Parents also cited a DOE decision to cut middle school grades from PS 111 in 2013, resulting in better test scores at the school, as a reason not to bring a middle school back to the building.

The decision to postpone the PEP vote was made in order to empower parents and address concerns brought up during public hearings, a DOE spokesman said.

"Community empowerment is central to this process, and we’re taking more time to discuss this proposal with families in order to address their concerns and ensure we’re meeting the needs of our students," DOE spokesman Doug Cohen said.

Photo courtesy PS 111 parent Grecia Piezzo