On Monday, March 9, a contractor under the supervision of the Board of Education’s Division of School Facilities was sent to PS 129 in College Point to replace some loose bricks in the chimney. NYC Board of Education spokesman J.D. LaRock, explains what happened next:

"The contractor proceeded a little bit further and removed the chimney. The boiler was fired up, when it shouldn’t have been, causing fumes to spread throughout the school, because there was no place for the fumes to go...the school was evacuated." There were no reported injuries.

The incident occrred with a DSF supervisor on site.

In need of ventilation and without heat, the school remained closed Tuesday and Wednesday, March 10, and 11, until a temporary boiler was installed in the school yard. While PS 129 was closed, its 700 students were sent to other schools

In light of such debacles, Queens school officials give contrasting views on whether the SCA and the DSF are adequately supervising construction crews at public schools in Queens.

"We’re not happy with the level of supervision of the agency," said District 25 Superintendant Arthur Greenburg. "It’s obvious to us that contractors or sub-contractors are not being supervised adequately enough."

Three construction projects within District 25, at PS 200, PS 154 and PS 168, have district officials concerned. Window and caulking replacement at the schools were done improperly, officials say, releasing lead paint particles into the school.

New York City’s Board of Education, through the School Construction Authority (SCA), and the city’s Division of School Facilities (DSF), supplies, assigns and oversees construction crews at public schools throughout the city.

The SCA is responsible for the design, construction, modernization and rehabilitation of public schools in New York City.

When repairs are needed, school officials call the Division of School Facilities. The DSF determines the severity of the repair, and whether it falls within the scope of the DSF or the SCA. The DSF sets the priority of the repairs within the district.

School Construction Authority contractors have been replacing windows at P.S. 200 in Flushing.

District 30 Assistant Superintendent John Yacavone said while he is satisfied overall with the level of construction supervision on larger projects, supervision is lacking in the smaller projects handled by the SCA and the DSF. "I think the SCA may be spread a little too thin. We also have that problem with the DSF. Right now they only react to emergency requests. Other things like electrical outlets they don’t consider an emergency."

School Board 25 President Sally Kahn said sources within the DSF has told the school board that, "they need better management." But she added that "there are many, many projects going on all over the city."

SCA spokesman Fred Winters said that all SCA contracts are competitively bid to contractors or sub-contractors that are pre-qualified. Credentials for specific trades are trade specific, but the SCA looks for those with clean backgrounds, adequate safety backgrounds, and training.

The SCA relies on its own inspectors, and construction supervisors from contracted construction companies to supervise construction sites. Winter would not give the number of SCA inspectors, but said that there are adequate inspectors "to insure compliance in all but the minimum number of cases.

"No matter how many inspectors there are there’s always room for error, or inappropriate behavior," he added. "We think the SCA has an excellent inspectional capacity and program.

"If a contractor fails to abide by the law, or fails to abide by SCA policies that they agreed to abide by in the SCA contract, then that’s a clear violation and ... the contractor is fired," Winter said. "But, it’s a rare occurrence.

The contractor and construction manager at PS 200, Arch-Con and Parsons Brinkerhoff, were both fired after the problems were discovered.

"Are we spread too thin?," Winters asked rhetorically. "No," he answered.

While the SCA has come under fire in District 25, officials at School Board 24 have fewer complaints.

"What problems do exist is due to contractors," said District 24 Deputy Superintendent August Sacciccio. "Basically, when there’s a job going on I think many times we run into small problems with the contractors or the sub-contractors that they have to hire.You’re going to find that on the individual jobs it’s up to who the contractor is. On certain jobs they’re going to screw up a bit."

Winters estimated that there are approximately 10 construction managers at the SCA, and their job functions are to supervise all construction associated with a project.