by Alex Christodoulides
Two City Councilmen are seeking to put pressure on the state Senate to close a loophole in the city's school-siting law that they blame for allowing students to be placed in leased schools that are contaminated by toxic chemicals.
One such school site is the Gateway to Health Sciences High School project, which is to be built adjacent to Queens Hospital Center after the City Council last month mandated extensive cleanup of soil at the site that is contaminated by petroleum. City Councilmen James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), head of the Environmental Protection Committee, and Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), chairman of the Council's Education Committee, held a press conference on the steps of City Hall Monday to demand that the state Senate pass either the state Assembly's stronger version of the bill - mandating Council review for contaminated school sites - or a compromise bill. They were joined by representatives of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, West Harlem Environmental Action, Healthy Schools Network and the Sierra Club. "Providing a role for City Council in the school-siting process doesn't introduce politics - it introduces democracy," said Gennaro. "The involvement of the City Council in the recent É Gateway School siting was widely regarded as a win-win for both the city and the affected communities and vastly improved the city's original plans."Finish reading article...
School Toxic Loophole May Not Close
by Lee Landor
The New York City Council’s Education Committee unanimously passed a resolution in support of State legislation to close a loophole in the city’s school siting law last week.
If it reaches the State Legislature and is passed, the legislation will amend the Public Authorities Law to clarify that leased educational facilities should be subject to the same public notice, Council approval and environmental review as new school construction, according to New York Lawyers for the Public Interest attorney Dave Palmer.
The School Construction Authority, which is responsible for finding new school space throughout the city, both builds new schools on purchased property and leases existing facilities and remodels them into appropriate school locations.
To build a new school, the SCA is required by state law to submit a site plan to the local community board, to afford the City Council an opportunity to review that site plan and to undergo an environmental review. Each of these prerequisites allows for community involvement, consultation and dialogue regarding the construction and introduction of a new school in the neighborhood.
When it comes to leasing property, the SCA argued that its leasing program was not subject to the same process, even on sites where there is known contamination, Palmer said.
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Queens Chronicle - Pols Spar Over Council’s Place In School Leases
by Joseph Wendelken...
The place that the City Council and community boards occupy in the process of siting schools on leased property sits at the heart of an increasingly contentious debate between city and state lawmakers. Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) sharply criticized state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) for sponsoring legislation that codifies the environmental examination requirements on such sites without including the City Council in the review process. Padavan’s bill instead places community education councils at the heart of the review process. Students’ parents, who comprise these councils, are greater stakeholders in the process, Padavan argues. With school overpopulation an issue the city faces perennially, the School Construction Authority regularly considers both leased space and sites for purchase. By state law, sites are subject to environmental reviews and reviews by the local community boards and the City Council before their purchase. Although the School Construction Authority is not required to go through this process when considering property to lease, a bill passed the Assembly last month that would close this loophole. Padavan, Gennaro and Mayor Michael Bloomberg agree on the necessity of greater environmental reviews of leased sites, given that 31 percent of new school seats in New York City over the next five years will be created through the leasing program. But Gennaro and David Palmer, an attorney for the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a group that lobbied for the Assembly bill’s passage, said that Padavan committed to supporting the bill as it appeared in the Assembly. Padavan countered: “They had no such commitment. We only committed to looking into the matter.” Padavan sponsored an amended Senate bill, which the mayor supports. Gennaro, the chairman of the council’s Environmental Protection Committee, called Padavan’s bill watered-down and said the senator “abandoned the (Assembly) bill and the children it would help.” At a Monday press conference with Council members Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) and Letitia James (D-Brooklyn) and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, Gennaro added: “Senator Padavan needs to keep his word, stand up for our children, and get ... his colleagues to pass a bill that truly protects the health and safety of the city’s school children.” Gennaro said that it is “widely understood” that Padavan submitted a weaker bill to align himself with Bloomberg, who wants to limit the role of the City Council in the siting process.Finish reading article...