By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Funding has been restored for thousands of new public school seats that had been on the chopping block, Schools Chancellor-to-be Dennis Walcott announced Tuesday following a day of meetings in Albany.
Walcott said the department will revise its five-year capital plan to include an extra $1.75 billion, thanks to restorations in state aid. The extra money will be used to fund nearly 12,000 new schools seats whose construction had been put on hold.
"For months now, we have faced the prospect of big cuts in aid from Albany that would have meant fewer new school seats and more overcrowding," Walcott said in a statement.
"Today, I’m pleased to announce that the Legislature has come through for New York City, putting us back on track to add over 28,000 seats in neighborhoods with the most need."
Last month, the department delayed voting on a controversial revised capital plan released in February that delayed plans for thousands of new public school seats, including four new schools in Manhattan.
An earlier proposed version of the plan released last November set aside $7.4 billion for 50,000 new seats to address overcrowding concerns.
Under the most recent proposal, most of the extra money — $1.7 billion — will go to toward increasing capacity by constructing and designing new schools. The rest will go to capital investments, including upgrading existing buildings and making schools more energy efficient.
A full breakdown of where the restored seats will be built is set to be released Wednesday, a Department of Education spokesman said.
The restored funding comes after the state legislature rejected a bid by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to cap state building aid to the city in its final budget deal.
The amended budget plan will now go before the Panel for Educational Policy and must then be approved by the City Council as part of the annual budget process.
