WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 5, 2018 3
P.S. 88 to move nine teachers after drop in enrollment
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BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Despite School District 24
being the most overcrowded
district in Queens, a huge
decline in enrollment at one elementary
school in Ridgewood could be
indicative of a shift in neighborhood
demographics.
On June 27, Department of Education
(DOE) spokesman Doug Cohen
confi rmed that P.S. 88 on Catalpa Avenue
will have to lay off nine teachers
due to a decline in enrollment of 100
students for the 2018-19 school year.
Cohen explained that while enrollment
for the 2017-18 school year was
941 students, that number is projected
to fall to 841 next year.
Since schools receive budget allocations
based on the number and needs
of their students, the resulting budget
cuts for next year meant that teachers
had to be let go, Cohen said.
“The school will continue providing
the same level of services for the
upcoming year and we’ll ensure that
the needs of students are met,” Cohen
said. “Staffi ng decisions are made aft er
a careful review of the needs of the
community, and we’ll support those
who are not returning to the school to
fi nd another position in New York City
schools.”
To be clear, Cohen added, the teachers
will remain as DOE employees, but
they will no longer work at P.S. 88.
Yet, according to the DOE’s Fair Student
Funding records online, P.S. 88 is
far from the only Ridgewood school to
be hit with budget changes.
Records show that P.S. 68 will lose
$212,675; P.S. 71 will lose $396,403; P.S.
239 will lose $217,822; P.S. 81 will lose
$435,371; P.S. 305 will lose $102,968;
and I.S. 77 will lose $33,374. That list
includes all but one of Ridgewood’s
elementary schools.
According to Cohen, however, these
numbers may not actually reflect
budget cuts at these schools since the
citywide fair student funding levels
are increasing next year, and the numbers
currently available online are
likely not the fi nal fi gures. The DOE
is working to provide the Ridgewood
Times with fi nal numbers and confi rmation
if there are any more teachers
to be excessed at other schools.
Nonetheless, District 24 Community
Education Council Co-President Dmytro
Fedkowskyj acknowledged that
some Ridgewood schools have been
experiencing a decline in enrollment
over the past two years. It’s a direct
contrast to the overcrowding in other
parts of the district, but Fedkowskyj
said that re-zoning the district would
not have a major impact on enrollment.
While he understands that budget
changes are necessary and the process
isn’t perfect, Fedkowskyj said the
students and school community still
suff er.
“What’s unfortunate is there are students
that know teachers in the community
and when they are excessed
it disrupts the school community,”
Fedkowskyj said. “That has an impact
on the learning of our kids and can
be signifi cant depending on how long
teachers have been in a school.”
According to Pat Grayson, chair of
the Community Board 5 Education
Committee, the declining enrollment
and budget cuts at elementary schools
is a direct refl ection of the changing
age demographic in Ridgewood.
“In actuality, people got up and
moved away,” Grayson said. “Millennials
are the people who have children
when they’re 42 … people who are
buying here don’t have a family yet.
The point is, the neighborhood is no
longer an old person’s neighborhood.”
Fedkowskyj agreed, and he added
that rising rents and property taxes
that price people out of the neighborhood
are going to have ripple eff ects.
To Grayson’s point, while the age
distribution in Ridgewood is spread
fairly evenly, the largest portion of the
population is the 25 to 29 age range at
9.7 percent, according to the Department
of City Planning.
Grayson added that the only
possible solution she can think of to
deal with the budget cuts would be
to merge schools into K-8 settings,
but in Ridgewood there wouldn’t be
enough students to fi ll those buildings,
she said.
Fedkowskyj has requested more
information from DOE — specifi cally
the enrollment numbers at Ridgewood
schools over the past three years —
and said that kindergarten enrollment
will be the biggest indicator that this
trend is a reality.
Photo via Google Maps
P.S. 88 on Catalpa Avenue in
Ridgewood, Queens.
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