The City Council voted Wednesday to approve a site for a new primary school in Parkchester, part of an ongoing effort to reduce class sizes in accordance with a 2022 state law that mandates smaller classroom capacities citywide over the next six years.
The proposed school would add 547 Pre-K through fifth-grade seats by constructing a 35,212-square-foot facility on the site of a former private Catholic school on Zerega Avenue, which closed in 2008 after 75 years of operation.
City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías told the Bronx Times after the vote Wednesday that the proposed school would bring much needed seats to Community School District 11. She said that the district is likely be see an influx in families in the coming years due to projects like the Metro North expansion.
“I’m really glad I’ve been able to bring in a school into the district, especially where we’re seeing massive developments, that is gonna be a positive impact into the community,” Farías said.
By September 2028, New York City public schools are required to limit their class sizes to 20 students per class in grades K – 3, 23 students per class in grades 4 – 8 and 25 students per class for high school classes.
Representatives from the New York City School Construction Authority told the Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions subcommittee earlier this month that elementary schools in Bronx Community Education Council District 11, where the new school is planned, operated at 103.86% of their targeted classroom capacity for the 2023-2024 school year.
Supporters of the new primary school, including Farías, warned that without adding new schools to the district, it would be unlikely to meet the mandated classroom size limits by the 2028 deadline.
However, according to a timeline presented by the School Construction Authority to Bronx Community Board 10 in November, the new school isn’t expected to open until September 2029—one year after the state’s classroom size mandate takes effect.
Representatives from Community Board 10 present at the November public hearing could not be reached for comment.
The proposed school would include 22 general education classrooms, two special education classrooms, and eight District 75 classrooms designed for students with significant needs and individualized education programs. Plans also call for a music room, art room, library, gymnatorium and a 14,000-square-foot outdoor play area.
The school will be a newly constructed building located in the same spot where the Sacred Heart Private School, a private K-8 catholic school, now stands. While private schools are not impacted by the city’s new class size limitations, a wave of private catholic school closures in the borough leave families with a shrinking pool of private educational institutions in the Bronx which could possibly push displaced students into the public system.
Combined with the sustained growth in affordable housing and massive planned developments like the Metro North expansion project, the Bronx could see an influx in new residents, some with school aged children. Farías told the Bronx Times that the borough has to be prepared for new student enrollment at public schools.
“ You get families who move that come into the district,” Farías said. “Especially now over the last couple of years, we’ve seen migrant shelters showing up throughout the city. Sometimes you get students midyear and you have to have capacity for them.”
As it stands, the Bronx is the borough with the highest percentage of classrooms that are in compliance with class size limits set forth in the new legislation, according to NYC Public Schools.
The proposed new school cleared public hearing hurdles at the community board, community education councils and city council committees before going to the full council for a vote Wednesday. Now, with an approved site, the proposed school will have to go through the city’s land use review process before beginning construction.
