By Harold Egeln
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BAY RIDGE – This community and its surrounding environs host some of the most overcrowded schools in the city. Some even use hallways, libraries and closets for extra classroom space.

To deal with the worsening problem, construction plans for new schools are a center of attention for School District 20 officials and parents.

At the district’s recent Community Education Council (CEC) meeting, the council voted on a city Department of Education zoning plan for two new elementary schools, P.S. 264 on Fourth Ave. at 89th Street and P.S. 971, also on Fourth Ave. but in nearby Sunset Park at 62nd Street.

The CEC meeting was held at P.S. 104 on Fifth Avenue between 91st and 92nd streets. This, one of the most overcrowded schools in the district, will see relief when P.S. 264 opens three blocks away on the site of the old Auto Express Car Wash.

When P.S. 264 opens in 2013, it will accommodate up to 475 students, according to officials. As for P.S. 104, it has experienced an increasing influx of students from the military families housed at nearby Fort Hamilton Army Base.

The other overcrowded school that will see a drop in students four years from now will be P.S. 185 on Ridge Boulevard between 86th and 87th streets, four blocks from the aforementioned P.S. 264.

P.S. 104 and P.S. 185 already share a joint early-childhood center situated in the Department of Education (DOE) building at 415 89th St. This center provides centrally located pre-k and kindergarten classrooms for students squeezed out of P.S. 104 and P.S. 185.

For students at overcrowded P.S. 314 on 60th Street between Third and Fourth avenues, relief will come when P.S. 971 opens three blocks away in about four years. With approval of a new DOE zoning plan, the way is paved for realigning current school zones and creating new zones around the future P.S. 264 and P.S. 971.

A similar zoning vote will pave the way for the construction of P.S. 680 at Fourth and Ovington avenues on the site of the demolished Bay Ridge United Methodist Church, which was also called “the green church� due to its distinctive green stone façade.

This four-story tall school is currently in the design stage, would incorporate portions of the old green church into its architecture, such as the church’s large-front circular stained glass window and the church’s clock tower.

When the DOE draws up a zoning plan for P.S. 680, the nearby schools that would see a drop in the student populations as it was built include P.S. 102 on Ridge Boulevard and P.S. 170 on Sixth Avenue.

All in all, the new schools will provide much needed space, said CEC President Laurie Windsor and Councilman Vincent Gentile. Following the CEC vote, the DOE will do its final review.

Zoning changes will also affect P.S. 69 at 6302 Ninth Ave. and P.S. 105 at 1031 59th St. near the construction site for a new elementary school. More zoning changes are planned for P.S. 503 at 330 59th St. near the future P.S. 971, and P.S.-I.S. 180 at 5601 16th Ave. Some neighborhood residents are concerned that the zoning changes will create a division along ethnic lines.

Also in the planning stage is the expansion of overcrowded P.S. 229 at 1400 Benson Ave. in Bath Beach.

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