Over the past three decades, the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) has located, designed, and constructed the most cutting edge educational and recreational facilities for New York City public school students. Since its creation, the SCA has provided more than 280,000 new school seats for New York City students, which includes the nation’s largest free Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) network with approximately 11,000 seats under the Mayor’s UPK and 3-K initiatives. In addition, the SCA has protected, repaired and upgraded over 1,800 schools in over 1,400 school buildings, half of which are over 60 years old.
Our record has been exemplary and is always improving. The SCA has constructed an unprecedented number of schools and additions and completed thousands of capital improvement projects. In December 2021, the SCA completed upgrades to electrical infrastructure in order to provide air conditioning (A/C) for every classroom in New York City, one year ahead of schedule.
We have continued the City’s commitment to remove Transportable Classroom Units (TCUs) across the five boroughs. In fact, since 2015, we have removed or are in the process of removing all but the final 45 of 354 original TCUs, and we continue to develop plans to remove those.
The SCA began the 2021-2022 school year opening eleven new schools/additions, leases, and Pre-K facilities. Each location was opened on schedule despite being temporarily forced to pause due to the pandemic. These new facilities added over 3,700 much-needed seats in overcrowded districts. Since 2014, the SCA has added more than 55,000 new seats, in fulfillment of the Mayor’s commitment to reduce overcrowding and increase diversity.
In 2022, we look forward to opening 12 new buildings and additions as well as seven Pre-K/3-K centers.
The SCA also continues to set the standard with new milestones in minority business participation at the SCA. Since 2010, the SCA has committed over $4.9 billion in prime contracts to MWLBE businesses and over $3.2 billion in sub-contracts. We also developed a one-of-a-kind Mentor Program to grow and develop MWLBE contractors. Businesses participating in the program have won over $785 million in contracts.
I’m honored to lead an organization that keeps moving forward and is constantly innovating thanks to the dedication and hard work of SCA staff. As we continue into our fourth decade of service, we remain committed to the mission at hand: providing better facilities and enhanced educational services for the City’s school children. Our energy and passion to accomplish these goals will never waver.