Eric Greenleaf's presentation to Speaker Silver's downtown school overcrowding taskforce

1. Why Downtown's Kids Need to Keep Tweed Prepared by: PS 234 Overcrowding Committee Presented to Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Task Force on School Overcrowding Nov. 23, 2010 For more information, please contact: Prof. Eric Greenleaf, [email_address]

3. Shortage will get worse in the next three years Births in Manhattan C.D. 1 Births in Community District 1 are increasing by over 60 per year Also: Over 9000 new and converted apartments Downtown in last five years, and the 935-apartment residential tower above Spruce Street School opens in a few months

4. Projected size of Downtown’s kindergarten class @ 60% of births five years earlier (as in 2010) Projected size of kindergarten class

5. Projected shortage of seats for Downtown’s kindergarten class Projected size of kindergarten class Total Downtown kindergarten capacity

7. Present enrollment at Spruce – Fall 2010 But what happens in Fall 2011? Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity Spruce K enrollment Spruce total enrollment

8. Spruce’s entire elementary capacity will be almost entirely used up by Fall, 2011 – six or seven K classes in a twelve-classroom school Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity

9. Dept. of Ed.’s solution – divert all 6 middle school classrooms to elementary grades, “creating” 150 more elementary seats Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity Total Spruce capacity

10. But: Spruce more than completely full by Fall 2012 Must take 194Ks = 8 K classes - in an 18-classroom school whose oldest kids are in third grade. Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity Total Spruce capacity

11. In Fall 2013 there is no room for any of the 229 kindergarteners assigned to Spruce. These kids are already two years old in 2010. Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity Total Spruce capacity

12. By Fall 2014 there is a shortage of 509 elementary seats – where will these kids go to school? Projected size of Spruce kindergarten class Total Spruce elementary capacity Spruce K capacity Total Spruce capacity