By the way, several years ago I looked up fire codes and building codes; I found that charter schools and public schools had different rules. How is that, in a co-location?
Betsy Combier
EXCLUSIVE: 90% of schools have at least one building code violation: city
There are nearly 1,200 public school buildings and those structures tallied up 9,693 open building and environmental violations. These can include loose wires, stuck doors and inadequate ventilation. I.S. 195 in Harlem had 124 open violations, the highest count of any school building, but 57 schools in total had more than two dozen each.
BY BEN CHAPMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
LINK
PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013, 2:30 AM
UPDATED: SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2013, 2:30 AM
CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
I.S. 195 in Harlem had 124 open violations, the highest of any school building in the city. In March 2012, Principal Rashaunda Shaw said there was also a ‘problem with rodent and insect infestation.’
Education officials fail to make the grade when it comes to keeping public schools free of building code violations and environmental problems, according to city data.
More than 90% of city schools have at least one outstanding building code violation, an analysis of school inspection records by the school cleaners union shows.
Loose wires, stuck doors and inadequate ventilation are just some of the problems at 1,100 school buildings with at least one open violation as of May 23.
Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ President Hector Figueroa said conditions in many of the school buildings could be harmful to students and staffers.
“At the least, these violations are a distraction and a source of discomfort,” said Figueroa. “And in many cases, they could actually present a health hazard.”
The Intermediate School 195 building in Harlem had 124 open violations, the highest count of any school building in the city.
The W. 133rd St. structure houses four schools. It has dozens of violations for problems with elevators, lighting and building maintenance.
SEIU32BJ.ORG
Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ President Hector Figueroa said conditions at some of the schools ‘are a distraction and a source of discomfort,’ also noting that ‘in many cases, they could actually present a health hazard.’
When city inspectors visited in March 2012, IS 195 Principal Rashaunda Shaw said there was also a “problem with rodent and insect infestation” in the building.
The city operates about 1,200 public school buildings and as of Wednesday, those structures had 9,693 open building and environmental violations. Fifty-seven schools had two dozen open violations or more.
Many of the open violations were reported months or years ago. Union officials blamed the slow repairs on cuts to city funding of school maintenance and repair projects.
School capital budgets were reduced significantly in the past several years, union officials said, including a $700 million decrease adopted in fiscal year 2011.
Although some of those cuts were restored in later years, union officials said the 2010-14 school capital budget remains reduced by more than $500 million compared with the 2005-09 budget.
Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said the agency is spending more than $3 billion in building improvements under its capital plan.
Feinberg said the open violations in city schools are not emergencies and the agency is working to correct them.
“We maintain clean and safe schools,” said Feinberg. “Any serious maintenance-related complaints are addressed immediately, and noncritical complaints are prioritized with the repair work for the building.”
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