editorial 28 THE COURIER SUN • MAY 19, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA BRIANNA ELLIS KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: [email protected] for advertising e-mail: [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE COURIER SUN and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. SNAPS QUEENS TIME FOR TEA // PHOTO BY XUETING CHEN Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing [email protected] (subject: Queens Snaps). identify this PLACE THE COURIER/Photo by Katrina Medoff A costly lesson for two Queens schools For the second time in a half-year, the city’s School Construction Authority (SCA) has begun expanding public schools in Queens that were expanded not all that long ago. Both of the campuses are in Middle Village: P.S./I.S. 49 and P.S./I.S. 128. In the former’s case, the city built an extension of classrooms and other learning areas in the schoolyard; in the latter’s case, the city replaced a one-story schoolhouse with a brand-new, three-story building. These projects were completed less than a decade ago, but now the student populations at P.S./I.S. 49 and P.S./I.S. 128 are so high that the SCA has to come back to both locations and build additional classroom space in the schoolyards. All this at additional taxpayer expense. Of course, we believe the projects must be done. The children in these schools should not be forced to learn in cramped quarters, nor should they be deprived of certain facilities to enhance their education (such as libraries and laboratories) due to a lack of space. What we fi nd troubling is that seemingly the SCA and the Department of Education didn’t plan accordingly or exercise some foresight in planning the fi rst P.S./I.S. 49 extension and the new P.S./I.S. 128 years ago. These excellent schools, both of which only served kindergarten through fi fth grade prior to the fi rst projects, were already in high demand; the addition of space and middle school grades (6 through 8) at each site would cause only brief relief from overcrowding. Now both schools are bursting at the seams once again and require additional space to grow. Let’s hope the SCA and the DOE have learned their lessons from their Middle Village mistakes and will plan other projects in Queens more appropriately to better serve the needs of our borough’s evergrowing population. Celebrate patriots on Memorial Day If you’re sticking around Queens for Memorial Day weekend, do more than just barbecue or head to the Rockaways for some sun and surf. Across Queens, veteran groups and community leaders will come together to hold parades, ceremonies, vigils and other events throughout the weekend honoring the sacrifi ces American soldiers made to make our free way of life possible. Next week’s issues will feature a full list of these Memorial Day events; if you miss the listing in print, you’ll fi nd them on QNS.com as well. Head out early, and bring your families and an American fl ag. Cheer those who served and offer a word of thanks to them for all they’ve done for us. These events are free; they only cost a little bit of your time on an otherwise festive three-day weekend. Make it worth your while.
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