District 20 council votes to rezone Bay Ridge schools
For years, educators and parents in School District 20 (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) have been lamenting the fact that children have to sit in crowded classrooms due to the high enrollments in many of the schools. Buildings that were meant to accommodate 2,500 students have had to squeeze hundreds more into their classrooms in recent years as young families have moved into these communities and have sent their children to local schools.
But that picture is starting to change, according to Laurie Windsor, president of the Community Education Council of School District 20, who said the New York City School Construction Authority listened to the council’s pleas and built new schools in the area. “And our elected officials pushed for us to get funding for new schools,” she said.
Those efforts are starting to bear fruit, Windsor said. In September, P.S. 264, a new elementary school dedicated to the arts, opened its doors on Fourth Avenue and 89th Street in Bay Ridge. Next September, P.S/I.S 30, an elementary-intermediate school, will open on the corner of Fourth and Ovington Avenues.