Some Parents Worry More Pre-K May Mean Less Space For Everyone Else

New York City is home to the largest public pre-kindergarten program in the country. Now the de Blasio administration is adding classes for three-year-olds.

Unsurprisingly, there could be a space crunch.

At the Bishop Ford complex in Windsor Terrace, one of the largest and most popular pre-k programs in the city, the ground floor is bustling with pre-schoolers wearing backpacks as big as they are. Mayor Bill de Blasio has called it a pre-k “wonderland.” But, as is often the case, there are multiple programs in the building. Parents of MS 442 students who attend classes upstairs say they're getting squeezed.

"When one program has a lot it often means another program doesn’t,” said Jody Drezner-Alperin, co-chair of the Parent Action Committee at M.S. 442.

M.S. 442 occupies two floors for its sixth through eighth grades. But middle school parents say their classrooms are smaller than the pre-k program's, even though the kids are much bigger. The pre-k has a science lab and library. The middle school doesn’t have a library, and the science lab has to be used as a regular classroom.  "I think the use of space in the building is not fair," said Megan Nyhan, co-chair of the Parent Action Committee.

Parents are especially concerned because M.S. 442 is a racially diverse school that fully integrates students with disabilities in the classrooms. But special education students get their services in the cafeteria, and M.S. 442 plans to shrink its incoming sixth grade next year to accommodate the kids it already has. Parents say the program should be expanded not limited.

Studies show the benefits of pre-k can wear off. Advocates say that's why it’s crucial to make sure the rest of the school system is as strong as possible. 

 “It makes no sense expanding this program and providing benefits to four-year-olds if you’re going to make the education worse for all the other kids in the school, said Leonie Haimson, the executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters.  “If you overcrowd a school it undermines the quality of education in many, many ways.”

But Department of Education officials say pre-k isn't crowding out other programs. According to the Independent Budget Office, almost half a million students go to overcrowded schools citywide. But the IBO also found there's a higher percentage of overcrowded schools without pre-k than with it.

The education department says the number of overcrowded elementary schools with pre-k has actually gone down as pre-k classes have increased, and neither the pre-k or the middle school at Bishop Ford are over capacity. “We’re committed to providing all schools the space and resources they need to succeed," said department spokesperson Doug Cohen. 

Still, Drezner-Alperin said it's clear the city's public school system has to build more capacity much faster than it is currently. “3-K and pre-k are really important programs and we’re definitely in support of them,” she said. “And children in 3-K and pre-k will continue to get older.”

This article was updated to clarify a comment from Leonie Haimson.