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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2003
PR- 064-03
www.nyc.gov


MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR
JOEL I. KLEIN ANNOUNCE 20,000 NEW CLASSROOM SEATS FOR SEPTEMBER

City Schools Will Have 28,000 New Seats by September 2004;
District Offices Reclaimed for New Classroom Seats for Students and Learning Support Centers

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced the addition of 20,000 new classroom seats, which will be ready for the opening of schools this September, marking the largest one-year expansion of classroom capacity since the School Construction Authority was established in 1989.  An additional 8,000 seats will be added by September 2004, bringing the total new seats to 28,000.  The Mayor and Chancellor also announced that 10 new Learning Support Centers will be established in space currently occupied by district and other administrative offices this summer.  The Mayor and Chancellor announced the expansion at Paul Robeson School/I.S. 183, a school currently converting office space into classroom space, in the Bronx.   

“In January, I made a commitment to the parents of New York City’s public school children that we would drive resources from the bureaucracies directly to the classroom,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “The restructuring of the school system presents us with an opportunity to move administrators out and children in and create the most new seats since 1989.  And by 2004, 28,000 new seats will have been created through conversions of office space and new school construction so that we can have a school system freed of bureaucracy and focused on the children.”

“For the first time, form will follow function in our school system.  Our reorganization will provide unprecedented support for the instructional mission of our schools,” Chancellor Klein said.  “The Learning Support Centers will house both the instructional leadership teams for our schools and our Parent Support Offices.  For parents, these offices will provide an additional point of access – beyond their children’s individual schools – into the school system.”

By this September, 20,000 new classroom seats will be created for the City’s schoolchildren: 5,000 new seats will be made available through the conversion of district offices to classrooms and 15,000 new seats will be made available through school construction.  By September 2004, an additional 8,000 new seats will be created: 3,000 seats through conversion and 5,000 seats through construction.  Thus, by September 2004, City schools will have 28,000 new seats.

Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein also announced that 10 new Learning Support Centers, comprising 13 total sites, will be established in district and other administrative office space this summer.  The Learning Support Centers will contain Parent Support Offices offering registration, information, and other services, and will house the instructional management teams, including the Regional Superintendents and Local Instructional Supervisors.  Six of the Learning Support Centers will also house Operations Centers, which will provide back-office support, including budgeting, information technology, human resources, food and transportation services, and other administrative functions currently performed at more than 80 district and other administrative offices.


 

www.nyc.gov

Contact: Ed Skyler / Jerry Russo 
(212) 788-2958
 
  David Chai   ( DOE )
(212) 374-5176