Education Panel Votes To Officially Move PS 452 Campus

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — One of the most debated aspects of a controversial Upper West Side elementary school rezoning plan — the re-siting of PS 452 on West 77th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues to the building vacated by PS 191 on West 61st Street and Amsterdam Avenue — has been officially approved by the city's Panel for Educational Policy (PEP).

The PEP voted to approve the move during its Wednesday panel meeting. The re-siting will take effect during the 2017-2018 school year, meaning current PS 452 students have just a few months left at their current campus.

The campus re-siting is part of a larger school district rezoning plan, which was passed in December with the goals of easing district-wide overcrowding and desegregating district elementary schools. Administrators and faculty of PS 452 asked the city Department of Education (DOE) to re-site the campus after it was announced that PS 191 would move into a brand-new campus in the Riverside Center starting in 2017.

Despite the plan's endorsement from school faculty — who argued that the move would allow the school to grow (it currently shares a campus with a middle school) — many PS 452 parents argued passionately against moving the campus 16 blocks to the south.

In an attempt to alleviate concerns of moving the school 16 blocks south, the district community education council and DOE agreed that all students who attend PS 452 will be able to be bussed to their new, further away school.

All but one member of the Community Education Council District 3, a group of 10 parents elected to represent community interests in School District 3 (encompassing the Upper West Side and South Harlem), voted to approve the rezoning plan. The plan will be implemented during the 2017-2018 school year.

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