By JANAKI CHADHA

The de Blasio administration recently tackled the nagging problem of overcrowded schools, outlining steps that could reverse a trend in District 10, a northwest Bronx district that’s home to mobile classroom trailers.

The 13-page report submitted by School Space Working Group, comprised of education experts around the city, made four recommendations that could result in better student performance. These included maximizing the use of space to help students with special needs thrive, creating a more inclusive and transparent process that raises community input on policy decisions, establishing stronger campuses that function to promote student achievement, and easing challenges around co-located schools.

Marvin Shelton, president of Community Education Council District 10, praised the report, saying, “I like the framework they’re working with,” adding he’s more pleased with similar initiatives than in the past. “This is like a 180,” he said. “[In the past], they would just go by numbers.” He also hailed the shift towards trying to take more community voices into account, saying, “I really like that they’re requesting that comments be posted almost contemporaneously so that the Panel for Education Policy has time to actually read them.”

Shelton, a critic of co-location, agreed with the report’s sentiment that co-located schools are a necessary evil until better resolutions can be implemented. “As a concept,” he said, “[I’m] not 100 percent behind it,” but added that, “It’s working for us most of the time.” As in the report, Shelton cited John F. Kennedy High School campus in Kingsbridge Heights as an instance where the concept has been working effectively. Shelton’s one criticism of the report was that he noticed some of District 10’s main issues—the need for more classrooms and new construction—were not elaborated further.

The group has laid out several points showing how their goals will be realized. They have called to reduce disruption to District 75 students during any co-locations and for allocating space specifically for in-school mental health services. In order to maximize community input, they have recommended beginning the engagement process with the community earlier before finalizing decisions and making information about changes in schools easier to access and understand by providing materials in more languages and formats. In terms of co-location, they called for holding structured meetings between schools during a new school’s transition into a building as well as creating a Guidebook to Effective Co-Location.