SCA gives updates about District 20 school sites

A School Construction Authority representative met with Community Board 10 on Jan. 19 to discuss plans for four new District 20 schools.

Steve Gonzalez, SCA’s project support manager for South Brooklyn and Staten Island, talked about plans to build schools on lots formerly occupied by Nathan’s at 650 86th St., the Angel Guardian Home at 6312 13th Ave., Santander Bank at 8808 Fifth Ave., and the medical office at 6740 Third Ave.

I.S. 322 is scheduled to open at the Nathan’s site in September 2024. Plans call for 475 seats, 72 of which will be in the D75 program, which provides highly specialized instruction for students who have significant challenges.

“We have a contract,” Gonzalez said. “This project has been awarded and we are planning to mobilize sometime in early spring. We are looking at the March and April timeframe.”

One board member said traffic conditions are dangerous in that area, but Gonzalez said bus drop-offs won’t take place there.

“We recognize that it’s a traffic issue and a very heavily traveled street,” he said.

Another board member wanted to know why the school has so few seats. Gonzalez said capacity was determined by space limitations.

“It’s a space concern and it’s a tight property,” he said. “We have to use the entire property. We also have basketball courts in the back, on the side of the building. It’s a very constricted area. We are using every portion of that property for this middle school.”

P.S. 676, on the former site of the Angel Guardian Home, is also expected to open in September 2024. It will have 547 seats, with 96 in D75.

No opening date or seat total has been set for the school on the former Santander Bank site, but Gonzalez said a contractor has been hired and they hope to have that information in the near future. 

One board member said the area around Fifth Avenue and 88th Street is a bad place for a school. Gonzalez said it’s difficult to find school sites in District 20.

“Whenever we can find property for market price, we look out and try to purchase that property,” he said.

The school at the medical office site on Third Avenue and 68th Street would open in 2024 with 307 seats.

“For the main building, we are close to finishing up the design,” Gonzalez said. “We are going out to bid, what we call the demo package, which is the demolition of the old doctor’s office. That will be a process of six to eight weeks.”