P.S. 111 is beginning to resemble a Wild West town. Too small for the both of us, and destined for a showdown.
In 2003-2004, the Bronx Better Learning Charter School settled into portables behind P.S. 111. The Department of Education granted it three classrooms inside the P.S. 111 main building in 2007-2008. In September, it granted the charter school two more.
Some P.S. 111 parents think the DOE has accommodated the charter school to the detriment of the regular public school students. When Joscelyn Mahon’s daughter attended kindergarten at P.S. 111, in 2006, she had only 20 classmates. There are more than 25 students in each of the 2009-2010 kindergarten classes, Mahon said.
School District 11 Community Education Council president Monica Major has brought the issue to the DOE. P.S. 111 principal Julia Rivers-Jones is in talks with Bronx Better Learning Charter School principal Shubert Jacobs.
The DOE used its enrollment-based formula to determine whether or not to grant the charter school classrooms in P.S. 111, spokesman Will Havemann said. The goal is to be “consistent and equitable.” At P.S. 111 the formula determined that the charter school needed to expand beyond its portables.
“We realize that P.S. 111 does have space constraints that have been exacerbated by an unusually large influx of students this fall,” Havemann said. “We’re working with both schools to determine how they can share their facility in a way that is fair and helps them both meet the academic needs of their students.”
Major suspects the DOE of fuzzy math, however. She and CEC 11 worked to rezone the northern half of SD11 in 2008-2009. The rezone boosted enrollment at P.S. 111. CEC 111 submitted new data to the DOE in the spring. Rather than use the new data to divvy up classrooms at P.S. 111, the DOE used old data, Major said.
P.S. 111 parents were already upset. Then a CEC 11 member toured P.S. 111. The charter school has converted one classroom into a library, another into an all-purpose room and/or music room, P.S. 111 parent Joselin Brown said. Brown has a first grader and a third grader at P.S. 111.
“I have no problem with the charter school,” Brown said. “But to take away classrooms from our kids is unfair.”
Brown chose P.S. 111 because of its small classes, but now when her first grader needs extra help, she heads to the hallway.
Rivers-Jones declined to comment on the issue. So did Jacobs, except to reiterate that the DOE used its standard formula.
Major has discussed the issue with Councilman Larry Seabrook. Mahon feels that the DOE treats charter schools better than it does regular public schools.
“When a charter school submits a request, it gets it,” she said. “Meanwhile, we have children in the hallway.”
Mahon is concerned for the charter school students too. The portables behind P.S. 111 are temporary and worn-out, she said. The classroom swap has resulted in lunch and gym schedule adjustments.
