David Yassky

BY RACHEL MONAHAN  Published: May 20th 2008

Think your child's school is crowded now? Just wait.

A new report predicts dramatic enrollment increases in Brooklyn schools - and adds that Department of Education officials have failed to plan for the new tidal wave of students.

"Parents have been complaining about overcrowding in [Public School] 24," said Teresa Lantigua, mother of  10-year-old Antonio Kee, a fifth-grader at the Sunset Park elementary school. "DOE needs to do . . . more."

Four of the five elementary schools in Sunset Park are crammed beyond capacity, the report by city Controller William Thompson found.

No new elementary or middle schools are planned, even though a nearly 5% enrollment increase is expected as soon as 2015.

But Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg defended the agency's record - particularly in building new schools and adding space in Brooklyn.

Of the 63,000 seats being added to city schools under the Capital Plan, 63% are in Brooklyn, she said.

"We take into account various demographics in the plan, including birth rates and housing starts," she said. "We also closely monitor construction projects and take note of any changes to them."

Hundreds of units have been built in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO, where Public School 8 is already overcrowded, the report said.

"We're having to move in a trailer to accommodate the extra kids in PS 8," said City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights). "You can see the problem clearly in downtown Brooklyn . . . [DOE] has simply been too slow in responding to changing housing patterns."

In downtown Brooklyn, more than 3,000 housing units are under construction or were recently completed in the PS 287 school zone alone, yet no new capacity is planned for that area.

The report also projected overcrowding issues in other neighborhoods:

- Bay Ridge, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst schools were short nearly 1,000 seats in fall 2006, the report found. Enrollment is projected to soar 20% by 2015, but only 5,448 new seats are planned.

- In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, the City Planning Commission projects a general population increase of 12.5% from 2000 to 2010 because of thousands of new apartments being built. But Education Department consultants project an enrollment decline of 19.5%.

- In Bushwick, the neighborhood population is projected to increase by nearly 11%, but school enrollment is projected to decline 14%.