CITYWIDE

DEPT. OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES EXTENDED DAY FOR STRUGGLING STUDENTS

The Department of Education announced yesterday that 330,000 public school children will participate in a special extended-day class created under the new teacher contract. Intended to help struggling students, teachers will hold 37.5-minute periods after school Monday through Thursday. About 300 schools across the city voted to hold the sessions at other times, including before school. Other schools opted to hold two 75-minute sessions or three 50-minute sessions a week instead. The added time, officials said, will be used for tutorials, test preparation, or instruction for groups of up to 10 students needing special attention. The change of schedule is sending some parents scrambling to accommodate for after-school programs and pick-up times for multiple children. School bus schedules are still being worked out to accommodate the new schedule that will begin on February 7.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

OFFICIALS: BUTANE LIGHTER CAUSED DEADLY CONEY ISLAND FIRE

A deadly fire that killed three children in a Coney Island apartment Wednesday night was sparked by a butane lighter that one of the children was playing with, fire officials said yesterday. The investigation ruled out criminality in the deaths of Ricardo Clarke, 16, and his two nieces, Jahgiria Sheffer, 9, and Jahnae O’Pharrow, 3, who lived in the apartment with the girls’ mother, according to police. The three became trapped in the sixth-floor duplex apartment in the Ocean Towers housing complex on 24th Street in Brooklyn. According to reports, at one point the children could be heard screaming for help. According to fire officials, the fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. and escalated into a three-alarm blaze that took 138 firefighters more than an hour to extinguish. The fire did not spread to other apartments, fire officials said. A spokeswoman from the Buildings Department said the apartment itself showed minimal smoke and water damage. In a statement yesterday, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta noted that another fatal fire, in Queens last month, was also started with a butane lighter and cautioned against children’s having access to them.

– Special to the Sun

MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENT COLLAPSES AND DIES IN GYM CLASS

A 13-year-old middle-school boy collapsed and died during gym class yesterday, police said. Police said Geni Qehaja, of Gates Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens, collapsed around 10 a.m. According to school officials at M.S. 167, the Robert Wagner School, the school nurse administered CPR and connected a defibrillator to the student while waiting for an ambulance. Emergency responders brought the boy to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. As of last night, the medical center was investigating the cause of death. In a letter sent to parents, principal Jennifer Rehn said social workers were counseling the other students. There was no indication that the student had a previous medical condition.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

CONGRESSMAN PROPOSES FIRE SAFETY LEGISLATION FOR COLLEGE DORMS

A New York lawmaker introduced legislation yesterday that would establish a federal grant program to help colleges and universities purchase fire prevention equipment. Congressman Vito Fossella, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, unveiled a House bill that would authorize $3 million annually for four years to colleges and universities. Under the legislation, schools receiving grant money would be required to match the dollar-for-dollar amount to purchase various technologies, including smoke detectors and sprinklers, among other things. Since 2000, 81 people in student housing have died in fires, according to the Center for Campus Fire Safety.

– Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND BEHIND GAS STATION IN BRONX

A gas station attendant in the Bronx uncovered partial human remains in a wooded area near the Major Deegan Expressway yesterday, police said. According to police, the attendant found a human head around 11 a.m. when he was cleaning up behind a Mobil gas station located on the southbound side of the expressway near Van Cortland Park and Cityline Road in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. As of last night, police said they did not know how long the head had been there and could not provide identifying characteristics such as race, gender, or age. Police said the medical examiner will conduct further testing.

– Special to the Sun