Hopeful News But Questions About New Schools By Etta Sanders With the Downtown school population booming, the commitment by the city last month to create two new schools-an early childhood learning center and a new kindergarten through 8th grade school-was welcome news. But it has also raised questions about the zoning and administration of those schools, as well as anxiety among parents who are wondering if they will be able to send their children to the neighborhood school of their choice. "It is premature to discuss the opening of new buildings Downtown," said a Department of Education spokeswoman. "We are confident that this additional capacity will be able to address any future seat overcrowding for Lower Manhattan schools. Currently, the schools in Lower Manhattan are not overcrowded." Here is what is known about the new schools, and some questions yet to be answered. The Early Learning Center A 10,000-square-foot pre-k and kindergarten "feeder" school to be located in a new residential development behind P.S. 234 is planned as an annex to the school. But it could also house the P.S. 89 pre-k if that school also finds itself running out of room, according to Paul Hovitz, chairman of Community Board 1's Youth and Education Committee. For two years in a row, P.S. 234 has required an additional classroom to accommodate its growing student population. This year, the computer room was converted into a classroom. "Clearly we have the greatest need," said principal Sandy Bridges, adding that she would not oppose sharing the space with children bound for other local schools. P.S. 89, which serves Battery Park City residents, may indeed need the space. The school is currently utilizing all its classroom space, and kindergarten class sizes have grown to 28 or 29 students, said principal Ronnie Najjar. With several new residential buildings under construction or in the planning stages in Battery Park City, the school's population is likely to grow. The New East Side School The city has committed $44 million to the construction of a pre-k-through-8th-grade school on the east side of Broadway, and wants the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to contribute $25 million from the remaining federal funds earmarked for Downtown after Sept. 11. The likely site for that school is 250 Water Street, near the South Street Seaport, which the city will need to acquire from the lot's owner, Milstein Properties, either by purchase or through eminent domain. Two other locations are under consideration, said Hovitz, but he would not identify them. The city has promised to try to complete the new school building by the time residents begin moving into apartments on Site 5B. And that timing appears critical. One of the planned buildings will be more than 30 stories tall and filled mostly with family-sized two- and three-bedroom apartments, said its developer Edward Minskoff. Who will go to each of the three schools is a big unanswered question. Last month's agreement calls for the new east-side school to have as its "primary" zone the same areas as P.S. 234 (largely the area east of West Street and south of Canal) and P.S. 89 (Battery Park City). Having so-called "open zoning" for three schools would be confusing, said Hovitz. "There are going to be parents on the east side who want their children to go to P.S. 234 and there are going to be parents on the west side who want their kids in a k-8," he said. Some parents who live east of Broadway, with children in P.S. 234, worry they will be forced to switch schools. That will not happen, said a Department of Education spokeswoman, because "in general," students have the right to graduate from their current school. The new school may also create the perception that students living on the east side of Broadway will be getting a neighborhood middle school, something west-side students will not have. Parents at P.S. 89 have tried unsuccessfully to have I.S. 89 zoned for Battery Park City residents. But in order to be a zoned school it would have to have a seat for every eligible child in the area and it is simply not big enough. With the projected rate of Downtown population growth, even the breathing room afforded by a new school may be short-lived. Said Community Board 1 chairwoman Madelyn Wils: "By the time this school is built, we will be able to fill it up."