By Mary Johnson
KIPS BAY — A group of parents and teachers from P.S. 116 who are leading a charge to ease overcrowding in their school can now count among their supporters the Coalition of East Side Elected Officials and the members of Community Board 5’s education committee.
The group’s plan, which also gained unanimous support from Community Board 6 two weeks ago, calls for the Department of Education to make early use of a new school planned for East 35th Street and First Avenue. Construction on the soon-to-be P.S. 281 isn’t scheduled to be completed until 2013.
The process is known as “incubation,” and it would entail starting two classes of kindergarten students at P.S. 281 prior to its official opening. The plan is designed to ease overcrowding at P.S. 116 and to start building the new school’s community.