3,840 New Sunset Park School Seats Are Funded Through 2020, But 1,514 Are Not

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The city's five year capital plan (running from June 2015 through June 2020) funds the construction of 3,840 new seats in long-overcrowded School District 15, a swath of Brooklyn that includes Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Windsor Terrace. However, another 3,706 needed seats have yet to receive funding.

The numbers were a few of the many facts and figures offered at a Wednesday presentation officials from the School Construction Authority (SCA) provided to the Community Education Council for District 15 (CEC15). CEC15 is one of 32 such bodies in the city, each made up of parents who collectively advise New York on education policy within their districts. The SCA is in charge of school construction, repairs and upgrades.

The city's current five year capital plan is amended each February and November, agency spokeswoman Tamar Smith explained at the meeting. Usually, the amendments mean more money thrown into the pot, she said. For example, last November's amendment, which can be viewed in full online, added an additional $500 million to the budget, including $130 million for Pre-K spending, $28.6 million to make emergency shelter schools ADA-compliant, and $176 million in funds controlled by City Council officers and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

School District 15 is split into three sub-districts: Park Slope (which runs from Union Street to 39th Street), Sunset Park (39th Street to 55th Street) and Carroll Gardens/Gowanus/Red Hook, which starts at 4th Avenue and runs west.

Of the 3,840 funded District 15 school seats in the five year plan, 1,096 fall in the Sunset Park sub-district. (An SCA spokeswoman explained that funded sites have had money allotted to them in the city's budget, but may not have been constructed by the end of the current plan. If that's the case, the money carries over into the next five year period.)

Within the funded sites pool, 113 accepted students starting last September at P.S. 516, while 332 would be situated at 4302 4th Ave. starting in September, 2020 — the location of the neighborhood's former police station which the city is working to turn into a school site. (However, Smith suggested that time frame is an estimate, as the city is currently going through a complex approval process involving the State Historic Preservation Office.)

Another 651 Sunset Park seats are funded, but a school site for them has yet to be nailed down (though 300 could wind up at 4525 8th Ave. if city plans go through).

In the Carroll Gardens/Gowanus/Red Hook sub-district, 436 new seats will open at P.S. 32 in 2020, while another 844 seats have yet to find a home.

And none of the 1,464 funded seats seats in the Park Slope sub-district have been attached to a location yet.

Source: CEC15 and the SCA

But the city's funded seats meet only half of the demand in the overcrowded district. Another 3,706 seats are needed, according to SCA estimates, but have yet to receive funding. Of those, 1,514 fall in the Sunset Park sub-district, while 1,280 are in Park Slope and 912 are in Carroll Gardens/Gowanus/Red Hook.

Source: CEC15 and the SCA

That reality has resulted in decades of parent-led activism in the district, especially in Sunset Park. In a letter last fall, the SCA said it's seriously examining eight District 15 sites it believes have the potential to become future schools. Even so, Community Board 7's education committee is pushing the SCA to speed local construction and to be more transparent about its school site selection process, as is another group, Make Space for Quality Schools in Sunset Park.

Last year, CEC15 passed a resolution (embedded below) calling for the creation of a "Commission or Task Force on School Siting and Planning," made up of "parents, advocates and planning experts" working "to improve the efficiency of school siting and planning."

Along those lines, another group, known as "Case for Space" and led by local parent Nick Nyhan, wants the city to develop a "Fast Track Program" that would allow the SCA to more rapidly locate and lock down school sites. At Wednesday's meeting, Nyhan said that unless the SCA can find a way to catch up with private developers who are snatching up property, the district's overcrowding problem will only get worse over time.

If you're looking to get more involved with CEC15, you can attend any of its upcoming meetings (shown in the below schedule). You can also email CEC15@schools.nyc.gov, or call them at (718) 935-4267.

Those wishing to speak to the SCA's local officials can reach out to Tamar Smith by emailing tsmith5@nycsca.org, or by calling 718-472-8025.

Another SCA staffer worth contacting about District 15 is Project Support Manager Yvette Knight. She can be emailed at yknight@nycsca.org, or reached by phone at 718-472-8199.

Top image courtesy of Bart Everson on Flickr.