Opposition continues to grow over a proposal to open a charter high school within a middle school in Queens Village. NY1's Angi Gonzalez has more on the community's concerns and how soon a decision will be made.

A little more than a month after first learning about a controversial proposal to co-locate a New Visions Charter High School at I.S. 109 Middle School, community members and local politicians got together on Thursday to reaffirm their opposition to the plan.

"The Department of Education says the utilization rate here is 73 percent. I don’t buy that. The school seems pretty full to me," said City Council member Barry Grodenchik of Queens.

"The classrooms that aren't being used, aren't being used because they need repairs," said Robert Gubelman, whose grandson currently attends I.S. 109.

Opponents are also concerned about the potential co-mingling of younger and older students if the new charter school does come to Queens Village. 

"My young 11-year-old with a 19-year-old scares me, terrifies me. My son will not be going here if the charter school comes here, and a lot of parents feel the same way," said I.S. 109 parent Shelly Mohabir.

Some also feel like officials at the Department of Education may not be listening to their concerns. 

"They already started the application process for the new school. They've already sent out applications to parents and students to start the school in September," said state Senator Leroy Comrie od Queens.

Comrie is referring to applications for the proposed school, which had a due date of April 1, 2016. So the application period has ended, even though the proposal won’t be voted on by the DOE until April 20.

"We still have a fight and we are going to continue to fight, but I kind of feel almost like it’s a done deal," said PTA President Janice Berry.

Since finding out about the proposed co-location, to be called Humanities IV, Berry and other volunteers have collected more than 800 signatures from community members opposed to the plan.

However, a vice president with the charter school said they "have successfully built and maintained collaborative relationships with their co-located schools" already open at six other locations in New York City.

"We held a community forum on April 5 that was well-attended by approximately 50 people, many of whom were families who had applied to the school and were seeking additional information. We look forward to providing a new high school choice for families and students in Queens Village," said Timothy Farrell, vice president of external affairs for New Visions for Public Schools. 

A spokesperson for the DOE added they "understand the community’s concerns and have engaged with elected officials, school staff and families to solicit feedback around how we can improve the proposal."

"This is just the beginning of our efforts. We will continue to work closely with the school community and should the proposed co-location be approved, we are committed to ensuring that it will benefit all the students in the building," said DOE spokesperson Harry Hartfield.

Another public hearing on the proposal will take place on April 14 at 7 p.m. at I.S. 109.