Parents Weigh In On Capital Plan Proposal

Property at 222nd Street and Jamaica Avenue lies fallow. Its a tangible representation of unfulfilled education promises.
In its 2000-2004 five-year capital plan, the Board of Education, before being centralized and renamed the Department of Education (DOE) under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said one of its objectives would be the construction of PS 263 at that site.
The new school would have provided many needed seats for the most overcrowded school district in the city, District 29. But, as budget constraints invariably do, projects in the capital plan were scratched, including PS 263, which was postponed indefinitely.
"The logical thing was to expect that the first plans put on hold would be the first ones instituted," said Matthew Washington, president of Community School Board 29, baffled over the Department of Educations recent 2005-2009 five-year capital plan proposal, a $13.1 billion citywide project, often described as "ambitious," that aims to improve current facilities, add 76 new schools and restructure school space.
When Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg introduced their proposal November 10, Washington expected PS 263 to be one of the first projects. After all, Queens was getting a significant chunk of the funding, $2.2 billion, and District 29, according to the Independent Budget Office, was at 106.2% utilization.
Instead, PS 263 was left off. In fact, no new schools were planned at all for District 29.
"Now with the new folks at the helm, they seem to think we dont deserve it," said Washington, who voiced his complaints at a public hearing on the capital plan held by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall Wednesday night. Before the capital plan proposal can go to the City Council for a vote, the Department of Education and School Construction Authority (SCA) must hold public hearings to obtain input on what should be added or deleted from the list.
There to listen to feedback were Kathleen Grimm, the deputy schools chancellor for finance and administration, and Bill Goldstein, president of the School Construction Authority. Before taking testimony, the two administrators outlined the three parts of the program: $4.6 billion for restructuring current school space, $4 billion for the construction and leasing of new schools, $4.5 billion for capital improvement projects to repair and upgrade old and deteriorating school buildings. When complete, said the two, the plan will have created 63,000 new seats, brought innovative wireless technology to classrooms and increased safety.
"We think we got it right, we think we addressed the needs," said Grimm of the DOEs capital plan proposal, which relies on $6.5 billion from the city and a $6.5 billion contribution from the state. The states contribution banks heavily on a mandatory payout from this past Junes Campaign for Fiscal Equity legal decision that said the state has underfunded city schools.
Yet, as the hearing on Wednesday night showed, many promises for new schools or facility improvements scuttled in the previous capital plan were not even addressed in the latest proposal, and parents and community leaders, concerned about bursting populations, wanted them included.
"Were asking for you to take a very hard look at downtown Flushing," said Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik, concerned that no new schools were coming to the area, at the meeting. The assemblyman wondered why that K through 8th grade school planned for construction at Franklin Avenue, between Kissena Boulevard and Colden Street, in the last capital plan, which never got built, was not in the latest proposal. New schools, said Grodenchik and later echoed by Councilman John Liu, are crucial to offset the upcoming population boom in Flushing.
The assemblyman said many developments have begun or are soon to be started in Flushing and could add 3,000 families to the area. He estimated that if 20% of those families had children, then a new school would be required to service them all.
"We understand that there are needs throughout the city of New York, but we want to make sure that our children are taken care of as well even the ones that dont live here yet," said Grodenchik.
Other parents came to the public hearing not looking for a new school but repairs to their childs existing one.
"I am a believer in the city school system, and I want to see this school continue to flourish," said Fran Klimavicius, a PTA vice president at PS 184, a small K through 6 school in Flushing Manor. She said the school, where her twin nine-year-olds attend, has violations that date back to 1992. Much of the disrepair is classified as Level 5, which should make it a top priority.
All the windows at the school automatically slam shut when they are opened. As a result, they have all been nailed closed to prevent children from being injured.
The intercom does not work in many of the classrooms. Klimavicius said this could prove harmful in the case of an intruder. The school practices drills in the event a child molester or person with a gun enters the schools. In the drills, teachers are instructed over the intercom to lock down classrooms. But teachers in classrooms where the intercom is not audible or students using the bathrooms have to be notified personally.
"Whats the point of the lockdown if you have people caught in the crossfire?" asked Klimavicius, in an interview with The Queens Courier.
The ventilation, Klimavicius said, is also faulty. There is a variance in temperature of 20 to 30 degrees in the classrooms. She said its not uncommon for some children to be in t-shirts on one side of the school and those on the other to be bundled in sweaters and jackets.
"When you have all these distractions like sitting in a room in the dead of December and the room is 85 degrees how can you concentrate," said Klimavicius.