JCPS Demographic Study: Pertinent Facts re: Classroom Space

A Jersey City parent who reviewed the Board of Education’s (BOE) two demographic studies asked that I share pertinent information from the studies as it relates to the pre-K facility issue.  If you’re unfamiliar with that issue, this article in the Jersey City Independent provides background information. 

The Jersey City Public Schools (JCPS) has 28,000+ children and operates on a budget of $650+ million.  A 2-volume  study was commissioned by the BOE to help the BOE form a long-term facilities plan; Volume I was released in July 2013 and Volume II was released just this past week.  This Jersey Journal article provides helpful background / context for Part II of the study.  A series of highlights from each study are provided below.

Demographic Study, PART 1 Highlights:
(Click here to download full document.  Page numbers correspond to number at bottom of each page.)

Volume 1 explains historical growth from PreK-12^th grade and outlines the methodology used to develop the projections.

1. Over 12,000 additional housing units were projected for downtown as of the time of this report’s writing (page 5).   See page 6 for a map of those developments (12 of 17 are downtown- note 15 properties listed in table, but 17 are on the map). Since then Mayor Fulop has approved 20+ additional developments (he cited 23 additional properties across the City that are expected to go into construction in his State of the City address).
2. Public School enrollment is expected to increase by 25% by 2017-2018, almost all in Prek-5. (page 8, 16)
3. Only the public school system offers PreK3 and most of the buildings cannot accommodate this age group so contracted childcare centers take on a bulk of this responsibility (page 1, 4^th paragraph).
4. PreK enrollment has been suppressed because of uncertainty with space availability and uneasiness amongst parents to bus their 3 year old children to other sites (page 8).

Demographic Study, PART 2 Highlights:
(Click here to download full document.  Page numbers correspond to number at bottom of each page.)

Volume 2 provides a school-by-school and grade-by-grade forecast along with a capacity study of each school

1. Over half of the growth in student population is concentrated downtown (page 2)
2. PS3 and PS16 are at capacity (see table C.13 page 92-93 for PS3 and table C.16 page 95-96 for PS16) and PS5 is at 85% capacity, with most capacity in the older grades (see table C.15 page 94-95 for PS5).
3. PS37 – the school that currently uses the building at 180 9th Street, is at 85% capacity in total, but most of this excess capacity is at the older grades.  PS 37 is over-capacity at the Pre-K grades, with 4 pre-K classrooms housed in the PS 37 “annex” at 180 9th Street (see table C.18 page 97-98 for PS37). This is the facility that may not be leased to the BOE next year due to price point differentials between the BOE and the City.
4. The new development downtown over the past 10 years has put more pressure on downtown schools:
   • PS16 is expected to have nearly 100 PreK 3 and 4 students that will need to be accommodated starting in 2014-2015 (see page 40)
   • PS3 is expected to have over 400 PreK 3 and 4 students that will need to be accommodated starting in 2014-2015 (see page 44)
   • PS5 is expected to have almost 400 PreK 3 and 4 students that will need to be accommodated starting in 2014-2015 (see page 68)
   • PS37 is expected to have almost 200 PreK 3 and 4 students that will need to be accommodated starting in 2014-2015 (see page 70)
5. In the short term the District is looking into (a) using space differently, (b) busing, (c) leasing, and (d) restructuring classrooms to accommodate shifts in needs (Sangeeta Ranade in the Jersey Journal on 3/14)
6. Long term recommendations:
   1. Change schools currently housing PreK-8 to house only PreK-5 (page 25-26).
   2. Make sure rooms are right sized and properly accommodating the correct number of students (page ii).
   3. Get more Early Childhood Center (ECC) built (page ii).  Note: the NJ Schools Development Authority (SDA), the Governor’s Office, and the NJ DOE have said they will not release funding to build ECCs so the only option is to build these using District funding or contracted childcare centers.
   4. Big takeaway- a new elementary school would fill a lot of this need and there happens to be a vacant one at 180 9th Street which in great condition in our highest growth neighborhood, Hamilton Park.

Two things the City can do to help with this classroom shortage issue, particularly at the lower grade levels:

1. Accept the District’s offer to lease 4 classrooms in the short term.
2. Use abatement dollars to buy out the building and give it to the JCPS in the long term.