From left, Elizabeth Kuhn, Lynne Licitra and Scott Kuhl hold photos of their children
during a rally at PS 373 in New Brighton.
From the Staten Island Advance:
Staten Island parents of children with autism and other disabilities rallied at PS 373 in New Brighton today, pleading with adequate space for their kids’ classrooms.
About 40 advocates held up photographs of their children and posters showing school rooms that were cleaved in half last year to accommodate a growing popluation of students with special needs.
Staten Island’s three City Council representatives toured the school today and pledged to heed the call for added space.
Catherine Spicer of Brighton Heights attended in support of her autistic granddaughter, Rachel, a student at PS 373 who shares with five classmates and three faculty members a classroom measuring 18 by 13.
Rachel, who is 9 and uses sign language to communicate, is a student with maximal needs: but she goes to school in a long, shack-like facility within the school complex known as the “mini-building”.
“Rachel needs more space to learn,” said Ms. Spicer. “These kids are not getting their fair shake from the Board of Ed. It’s more like they’re being housed than educated.”
That sentiment was repeated by dozens of parents representing the PS 373 Parent Teacher Association, whose members are calling for a permanent, three-story extension to the site.
-Contributed by Tevah Platt
Link to the article at:
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/staten_island_parents_rally_fo.htm l
From NY1 News:
February 08, 2008
Parents and advocates for special needs children say P.S. 373 offers excellent services and staffing for Staten Island’s kids. But they say overcrowding in their “mini-building” is putting their children at risk.
“We don’t want to change the school, we just want to expand the room, their space to work, so they can be more efficient with their therapy for the kids,” said parent Jennifer Acosta.
“My son is in a very small classroom with six children and it’s still too difficult for them to move around,” said another parent Karen Herman.
The parents say the mini-building holds far too many students and some classrooms have been split down the middle – squeezing these special needs children into even smaller spaces.
Staten Island’s three city councilmen took a tour of P.S. 373 to see the situation for themselves.
“We come to a school like this and we see rooms that have been dissected in half and cut in three,” said Councilman James Oddo.
“It seems almost Byzantine that we stand here arguing for equal rights for our children with special needs,” said North Shore Democrat Councilman Michael McMahon. [Schools] Chancellor Joel Klein and [Deputy Chancellor] Kathleen Grimm and Mayor Michael Bloomberg need to hear us loud and clear.”
In between the main school building and the so called mini-building is an expanse of open space that advocates say the area is perfect for the buiding extension they’re looking for.
“Everyday it seems we hear about more budget cuts at the DOE but that can’t be a reason to keep our most vulnerable children in tiny or overcrowded classes, especially when there’s plenty of land to develop,” said PTA President Siri Kagan.
Kagan says she’s been trying for years to alleviate the overcrowding at the school. Other parents NY1 spoke with say their children would benefit greatly from less-cramped classrooms.
“It breaks my heart to see my daughter work her butt off to improve her own life and the DOE has this money and we have the space. I don’t understand why we have to wait so long to get a building built to save our children,” said parent Jen Walsh.
The Department of Education told NY1 they will consider the parents and council menbers’ requests for a building extension as part of the 2009 school budget capital plan.
– Jon Weinstein
Link to the article at:
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=242&aid=78301
PS 373R Robert Randall School 
