NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Social distancing during the pandemic worked in schools, and now there are calls for New York City to reduce overcrowding in the classroom over the short term and long term.
The City Council has a measure that would mandate more space per student.
The current standard is one student per 20 square feet and the new proposal calls for one student per 35 square feet.
The proposed code change would result in a maximum class size of 14 in a 500-square-foot classroom and 21 in a 750-square-foot room.
"The parents of the city have always said this is their number one issue," United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew said. "It is time for the city to be forced to focus on the issue of overcrowded schools and classrooms."
The code change would cut class size over the next three years.
Mulgrew and Councilmember Mark Treyger, who chairs the council's education committee, are concerned about September. Some schools are at 200% of capacity.
"Principals will be used using auditoriums, some will be using their hallways, some will be using their libraries, some people will be using common their art rooms," Treyger said.
"Right now we're facing a September opening where we have quite a few schools that are severely overcrowded and basically the answer we've gotten for months from the city is let the school figure it out. That's not acceptable," said Mulgrew, who would like the city to find more space.
Councilman Daniel Dromm said the COVID crisis has put the issue in the spotlight.
"Now we find ourselves in a pandemic and we're in a panic," Dromm said.
"It took the pandemic where people said enough is enough," Mulgrew said.
The Department of Education has indicated it does have enough space for September and will review the legislation.
