Safety Prime Concern
Clash Over Review Of School Locales

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

City Council Members and environmental activists last week blasted the State Senate for "watering down" a bill that would have strengthened the review process over where schools can be located.

FRANK PADAVAN: Trades charges of politics.

The advocates are urging the bill's sponsor, Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens), to introduce the version passed by the Assembly June 20 or the advocates' compromise measure during the Senate's Special Session this week. They say the original bill would close a loophole in the existing law, which allows for less community review for school sites that are leased, as opposed to those owned by the city. Mr. Padavan argues that his bill would address the gap and that the Council Members are seeking to inject politics into the process by mandating Council review of school location procedures.

'Gutting His Own Bill'

"It's appalling that Senator Padavan would consider gutting his own bill to protect New York City children, a bill that he committed to championing," said Queens Council Member James F. Gennaro, who is considering a run against Mr. Padavan next year. "You champion a bill by fighting for it and getting it passed, not by abandoning the bill and the children it would help."

About 30 percent of the new seats being created by the city's $13 billion five-year capital plan are scheduled for leased sites, according to Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan).

"I made no commitment," said Mr. Padavan. "I said I'd look at the issue and I did that and I made a decision. Mr. Gennaro is playing politics with schools and the issue of safety, which is inappropriate to say the least."

The Assembly bill would require that the city notify the community board when a school is being sited and would mandate Council review as well. Mr. Padavan's bill does not require the Council to be involved.

Cites Parental Review

Mr. Padavan noted that his bill would require review by the Community Education Councils, which are elected bodies comprised of parents of children in each school district. "I have a great deal of confidence that these parents will make sure their kids do not go into any school where there are health hazards," he said.

The Bloomberg administration has opposed introducing a Council hearing process for the sites, deeming it unnecessary and overly time-consuming. The Senate bill would essentially codify current practice, which the Department of Education officials says "uses a rigorous protocol" that adheres to state law.

Community activists who say a more stringent review process is needed point to the contaminated site at P.S. 141 in Harlem, where the school had to close in 1996 after it was discovered that children were being exposed to toxic chemicals.

"Our communities are already overburdened by environmental hazards and, as with P.S. 141, we often face the trade-off between relieving the overcrowding of school districts and exposing our kids to even more toxic chemicals," Kizzy Charles-Guzman, an environmental policy analyst with WE ACT for Environmental Justice, said in a statement. "We need a comprehensive bill that will close this loophole and ensure that children are protected."