Region 1 Superintendent Irma Zardoya is pushing to create yet another small school in Walton High School, potentially furthering the intense overcrowding that has fueled tensions between the schools housed there.

Zardoya submitted a proposal to the city Department of Education (DOE) last month to open a bilingual high school at the Kingsbridge Heights facility. The school would use a dual language model geared toward new immigrants, similar to some schools in Queens, according to Zardoya.

If approved early this year, the new transplant would constitute the fourth small school established at Walton since 2002. The city sees the smaller schools forming within many large Bronx high schools as the key to turning them around.

“We feel very strongly … that they [small schools] have more accountability,” said Zardoya, during last month’s Community District Education Council meeting.

While they might be better in theory, many are unhappy with how the schools have played out in Walton. “Sometimes I don’t want to come into the building,” said Cheyenne Garcia, a senior at the High School for Teaching and the Professions (TAP), Walton’s first small school. The Decatur Avenue resident says her fears increased when a Walton student punched a TAP teen in the jaw last month, sending him to the hospital.

During the last school year, Walton logged 12 major crimes and 265 other crimes, ranging from assault and weapons possession to disorderly conduct and loitering. The major crimes were similar for a school of its size, but Walton had twice the average for other crimes.

Walton’s violence problem landed it in the city’s “impact” program, joining 15 other schools whose hallways were flooded with police officers. The city announced with much fanfare earlier this month that major crimes were down 43 percent and overall crime had decreased 33 percent at the impact schools. But during the same time frame, Walton’s figures didn’t budge.

That’s no surprise to Mica Inoa, a parent of a Walton 10th grader. “Every day there is a problem in that school,” said Inoa, a Villa Avenue resident.

After her daughter was repeatedly harassed by a group of Walton girls, Inoa took out a restraining order against one of them last October. She is now waiting on a transfer for her daughter, and if that doesn’t pan out, Inoa is considering something more drastic.

“It’s getting so ridiculous I might keep her home and home-school her,” she said.

Last month, a 17-year-old Walton student allegedly punched an officer after he asked him to take off his hat. Seven students were arrested after a scuffle earlier this month. Garcia, a polite and articulate teen, says she was almost jumped recently.

“You have to walk tough,” she said.

Some Walton students feel like the extra policing has worsened the situation. “There are benefits to having more security, but it also causes lots of problems,” said Ammery Urema, 17, from East Tremont. Urema says that the police often round up innocent students when a fight breaks out.

“They say it’s procedural, but they just want to take you to jail,” she said.

Overcrowding crisis

Some students complain that Walton has more than its fair share of students who landed there as a last resort school. The school also has a large group of under-performing freshmen who are under evaluation.

Much of the friction, though, seems to stem from Walton’s overcrowding. Walton was already one of the city’s most squeezed schools last year at 171 percent over capacity. This year, given the same number of possible seats, it’s at 198 percent.

Many complain that the school’s hallways are jammed during class changes. That crunch was somewhat eased when dismissal times were staggered between Walton and the small schools, which include Discovery High School, the Celia Cruz High School of Music, and TAP. This year, classes change all at once, creating a potential powder keg in Walton’s hallways.

“Students are always jumping each other in the halls,” said Mark Stern, a Walton biology teacher. Alan Ettman, the school’s teachers union representative, agreed that Walton needs a better strategy for its hallways, but he also alluded to a gang element at the school.

Walton’s situation has attracted a barrage of attention from officials and the media. Council Member Oliver Koppell sent a letter to DOE last month requesting that the agency address the school’s gang activity and its lack of lockers. Responding to parent requests, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott made periodic visits to Walton this year. Just two weeks ago, the official overseeing Walton’s security was fired.

“We are aggressively addressing Walton’s issues,” Zardoya said.

Zardoya’s top solution to Walton’s problems is to phase it out. DOE officials have proposed to stop taking new Walton students after this year, and create a campus of five schools — including a smaller Walton — of 450 students each. That would reduce Walton’s total population from the current 3,631 to 2,500, with a portion of the extra students going to alternative programs.

Meanwhile, Walton staff and administrators attempt to calm the situation. Walton started an inter-school council of parent association and student council members to discuss issues on a monthly basis. Inoa says Walton maintains many good teachers — for now.

“Morale is low,” said Stern, who is considering transferring to another Bronx school.

The school’s own efforts can yield only so much. Garcia said that because of the security issues, a campus-wide dance was scrapped. “They had to cancel it,” she said, sadly.