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More Than 8,000 Seats Planned In Boro

The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts is under construction in Long Island City.

By Ellen Thompson

“Queens is a borough in need of facilities; it has seen a lot of expansion and there are plans for new schools where the funding is certainly needed,” Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said earlier this year.

As the city’s largest borough continues to erect office buildings, retail space and, of course, additional housing for the borough’s ever-expanding 2.2 million population, the need for new schools to be place alongside the new developments is obvious.

In November 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Klein announced $13.1 billion, five-year school capital construction plan, half of which is to be paid for by the City and the other half by the state.

Parents throughout the city, especially those in Queens, were thrilled at the prospect of new schools opening in their neighborhoods. Their children would finally have the ability to leave their overcrowded classrooms and pick up a book in a new or newly renovated spacious school.

The Department of Education’s Five-Year Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2005-2009, approved by the City Council in June 2004, became effective July 1, 2004. Queens had expected to see 8,120 new classroom seats brought into the borough, but when the Governor’s budget this year showed no sign of Bloomberg’s five-year school capital construction plan, the city had to potentially cut 21 schools throughout the five boroughs, nine in Queens, out of the plan.

The thrilling prospect faded from parents’ minds as their children began pleading to City Council Members for their help in acquiring the funds.

On April 24 the city’s disappointed parents and school children received good news as the Mayor, the Governor, the leaders of the State Legislature and the City Council Speaker announced an historic agreement and the passage of State legislation to fully fund the Capital Plan.

The plan calls for 107 new school facilities containing more than 66,000 seats to eliminate overcrowding, reduce class size in the critical K-3 years and eliminate transportable classroom units, at a cost of $4.4 billion, according to the Department of Education. The construction of High Schools on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills alone would provide 1,002 new seats.

The plan also calls for the restructuring of current school space, where $4.5 billion would provide for reformation of more than 400 schools citywide, the creation of new partnership and charter schools, and specialized capital investments such as science labs, computer labs and technology, safety enhancements, expansion of libraries and physical fitness space. “And conversion of administrative space to classrooms to ensure that our schools can provide all their students with a sound basic education,” The DOE said.

The last component of the plan focuses on investing in existing assets, allocating $4.5 billion to provide for Capital Improvement Program projects, including exterior and interior building upgrades, mandated programs and other necessary repairs.