By Kathianne Boniello
The news of the expanding school budget construction shortfall surprised not only the city but the city Board of Education as well, Queens board member Terri Thomson said Monday.
“We were shocked,” Thomson about Schools Chancellor Harold Levy’s announcement earlier this month that the school construction budget may have grown from $1.5 billion to $2.8 billion.
Queens, with the most overcrowded classrooms in the city, may lose six new schools when the Board of Ed decides how to balance the school construction budget. Cutting projects in Queens has been one of the scenarios proposed to help solve the budget problem.
Thomson spoke after the regular Board of Education meeting Monday afternoon, during which the board approved ongoing collaborations between Queens College, IS 227 and Townsend Harris High School.
The Board of Ed also gave its blessing to maintaining the partnership with the Manhattan-based non-profit group Take the Field Inc., whose mission is to refurbish high school athletic fields around the city.
This week’s Board of Education meet at 110 Livingston St. in Brooklyn was relatively uneventful following the last two months in which the board and Levy have had to fend off criticism for the gap in the school construction budget.
Originally reported in June to be about $1.5 billion, the school construction funding gap could actually be about twice that size, Levy announced in an Aug. 7 news release.
Thomson said the audit of the school construction budget that she requested when the budget shortfall scandal first came to light would seek to confirm the $2.8 billion estimated gap.
“One thing the audit’s going to try to do is verify the methodology used to come by the $2.8 billion,” she said.
While Levy and the Board of Ed grapple with the political effects of the school budget flap, Monday’s approval of the Queens College collaboration continues a longstanding effort by the school to stay involved in city education initiatives.
The partnership between Queens College in Flushing and IS 227 in East Elmhurst has been so successful, according to the Board of Ed, that the group approved an expansion of the collaboration to develop innovative middle school techniques throughout the borough.
Ron Cannava, a spokesman for Queens College, said the partnership has been fruitful for both the college and the middle school.
“This was set up as a model for middle-school practices,” he said. “Queens College has been in the forefront.”
The Board of Education also approved the continuation of a movement to refurbish high school athletic fields throughout Queens and the city.
Take the Field Inc. has successfully completed the seven projects it initially took on last year, according to the Board of Ed, with the work “coming in on time and within budget.”
The board approved Take the Field to tackle several more fields in the city, including Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside, Springfield Gardens High School, Campus Magnet High School in Cambria Heights, Jamaica High School and Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
