PS 145 begs for more space, with overcrowding worsened by co-location and now influx of refugee students

See email and petition below sent to the District 3 Superintendent about the extreme overcrowding at PS 145 on the Upper West Side that opened its doors this fall to 85+ additional students, both refugees and asylum seekers.  Even earlier, the school had lost their library and dedicated rooms for special education service providers to a co-located school.  

For more on how welcoming the school has been to their new refugee students, see this 60 Minutes segment from November, and  60 Minutes overtime.

From: PTA President <pta.president@ps145m.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2023 11:33 AM
To: KSamuels@schools.nyc.gov
Cc: CEC3@schools.nyc.gov; Lucas Liu <lliu@cec3.org>; soumounthakeophilavong@gmail.com; ursila@cec3.org; kent@cec3.org; jeanie@cec3.org; scollins@cec3.org; mark@cec3.org; victor@cec3.org; helen@cec3.org; ramatasacko@yahoo.com; davidbanks@schools.nyc.gov; nycchancellor@schools.nyc.go; dweisberg@schools.nyc.gov; ykalban@schools.nyc.gov; cwhitemore@schools.nyc.gov; jmeller2@schools.nyc.gov; mn07@cb.nyc.gov; gbrewer@council.nyc.gov; sabreu@council.nyc.gov; MarkLevinenyc@gmail.com; Leonie Haimson <leonie@classsizematters.org>; Naveed Hasan <naveed@cs.columbia.edu>
Subject: Petition from the PTA of PS 145 to evaluate building space sharing  

Dear Superintendent Samuels,

As parents and guardians of students attending P.S. 145, we are formally requesting a firm commitment to re-evaluate the distribution of space in the P.S. 145 building that you provided during the January 18 CEC 3 meeting. We request a space evaluation in early March as promised, and as a result, more space allocation to PS 145 according to the growing needs of our student population. Our students are increasingly crowded into too little space: current enrollment at the school is 515, and our designated space is for 438 students. Our principal and teachers have displayed admirable flexibility and ingenuity in their use of the space we have, but our building administration requires your partnership in their commitment to our students. 

Please find the petition outlining our parents' and children's concerns and requests. We sincerely appreciate your urgent attention to this matter.

Thank you,  P.S. 145 PTA Co-Presidents and parents