Students Left Without Required Courses After Scheduling Breakdown At Long Island City High
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Scheduling problems at Queens’ Long Island City High School may be caused by poor management of overcrowding, and students say the situation has left them with lengthy free periods instead of required classes. NY1’s Lindsey Christ filed the following report.Two months into the semester, students at Long Island City High School got brand new class schedules, new teachers and new times, but some say they're now missing the basics, like English and math.
“I have living environment and then advisory, and that's really not important. And then free period, free period, and then lunch — and that's not important, either — and then global,” said freshman Yaive Guillen.
“I had all my classes for me to get my credits. Now I don't have English, math, global or gym. None of that. I got a free period for all of those,” said freshman Erin Carmona.
Older students lost advanced classes they thought would help them get into college, like Advanced Placement Statistics.
“I was doing good in that class, I was planning to pass that test, but now I'll have to pay for that credit in college,” said junior Kevin Villarreal.
“My son's math class, which was very important to him, was taken out of his program,” said one parent.
There are 1,300 more students than the building is designed to fit. What overcrowded schools usually do is have students come in shifts, some starting and leaving earlier, others coming and going later.
But at Long Island City High School, the 3,300 students now have classes throughout the day. During the big blocks in-between, they're warehoused in the auditorium. It’s not necessarily a productive atmosphere.
“They either texting, listening to music, something like that,” said one student.
Some leave and don't come back.
“There is a gap in my schedule between, like, 11:30 and 2:30, so I don't know what to do, so I just don't go to that class,” said Villarreal.
NY1 has spoken with more than a dozen teachers, but none wanted to go on the record. They said the school is chaotic, and every teacher is overwhelmed with having to get to know a new group of students. Some teachers were even assigned to teach different courses all together.
In a statement, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said, "We regret and apologize for the inconvenience caused by adjusting students’ schedules at this point in the school year... Support staff have been working to help the school to properly reprogram."
The principal blames the scheduling mess on an unexpected drop in enrollment.