Dickinson Avenue Elementary School temporarily used by transportation department as a result of increased UPK students

Unexpected activity has been spotted at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School this past week, raising eyebrows as to what could be going on at the recently shuttered school building. Dickinson was officially closed as of August 31, 2021, after the board of education voted in favor of a scenario intended to address declining enrollment across the district and decreased tax revenue from the LIPA settlement. Bellerose Avenue Elementary School was also closed.

When contacted by the Journal about the recent influx of activity at Dickinson, district officials said it was just temporary – a result of an increase in student enrollment in the district’s universal pre-K program, made possible by an increase in state funding. The increased enrollment necessitated a shift in staffing – specifically the transportation department – for now.

“The district is still using the Brightside location to park and house our buses,” district officials said of the Brightside Avenue bus yard in East Northport. “The contract for the Brightside location office building space began on September 1, and the district is in the process of converting this space to be able to house our transportation staff as well."

While the district waits to convert the Brightside office building into a space that will house transportation staff, the transportation department has been temporarily moved to Dickinson, district officials said.

“Previously, our transportation department was housed at the William J. Brosnan building. As a result of the significant increase in Universal Pre-K funding, our pre-k providers needed additional space to house the increase in students,” said district officials. “This includes Island Kids, which is also located at the Brosnan building. In order to accommodate this need for additional space and receive the increase in revenue from the pre-k provider, our transportation department was temporarily moved to Dickinson Avenue.”

Buses are periodically stopping at Dickinson Avenue so that drivers can retrieve their afternoon routes and conduct driver trainings when necessary, according to the district.

District officials said an update on facilities usage, including the temporary use of Dickinson Avenue School for the transportation department, will be provided during the Thursday, October 7 board of education meeting.