QUEENS — Seventeen schools in Southeast Queens are hoping to receive funding for computers and smart boards through City Councilman Daneek Miller’s participatory budgeting program.
Requests from 17 schools dominated the ballot, which includes a total of 23 projects, seeking to split $1 million in funding.
Beginning April 11, all district residents ages 14 and up will be able to cast their vote for their favorite projects selected by locals during a series of sessions last fall.
“This is an opportunity to give all individuals a chance to become stakeholders and have a voice in the betterment and enhancement of our community’s capital investment,” said Miller, whose 27th District includes Jamaica, St. Albans and Cambria Heights, in a statement.
"There is no greater vehicle galvanizing local communities today than participatory budgeting,” he added.
From noon to 4 p.m., Miller will also host an open house at his St. Albans office at 172-12 Linden Blvd. to kick off the voting till April 19.
The majority of the requests came from local schools which need new equipment, such as the Institute for Health Professionals' $70,000 proposal for two mobile laptop carts or $160,000 for smart boards with overhead projectors, laptops and carts for Queens High School for the Sciences.
Other options also include a request for $375,000 to resurface a basketball court and install new backboards in Cambria Park and two separate proposals for St. Albans Park, which needs $450,000 to resurface two basketball courts and $375,000 to renovate the park's entrance way and handball courts.
The Jamaica Performing Arts Center wants $120,000 for new equipment and repairs, including upgrading its sound and lighting system. Another project would allocate $450,000 to upgrade an outdoor performance space at Roy Wilkins Park.
Several major streets in the neighborhood require immediate repairs, a project which would cost $400,000.
A sample of the ballot and all 23 projects
A full list of requests from local schools include:
► $35,000 for one laptop cart with printer at I.S. 8
► $40,000 for 20 desktop computers and four smart boards at Ben Franklin High School for Finance and Information Technology
► $78,000 for two laptop carts and 10 desktop computers for Humanities and the Arts High School
► $43,000 for one mobile laptop cart with printer and 10 desktop computers for Mathematics, Science Research and Technology High School
► $94,000 for 13 smart boards with an overhear projector and one laptop cart for York Early College Academy
► $60,000 for 10 smart boards with an overhead projector for I.S. 59
► $54,000 for 12 smart boards with overhead projectors for P.S. 95
► $35,000 for one mobile laptop cart with printer for P.S. 118
► $77,000 for one laptop cart with printer, six smart boards and one smart table for P.S. 134
► $63,000 for 70 laptops for P.S. 140
► $70,000 for two mobile laptop carts for PS/MS 14
► $37,000 for 35 smart boards for PS 176
► $43,000 for 10 desktop computers and 1 laptop cart for I.S. 192
► $70,000 for two mobile laptop carts for P.S./I.S. 268
► $140,000 for four mobile laptop carts for The Emerson School
► $70,000 for two mobile laptop carts for Institute for Health Professionals
► $160,000 for five smart boards with overhead projectors, 64 laptops and two mobile laptop carts with overhead projectors for Queens High School for the Science.
Voting will take place between April 11 and 19. For a list of voting sites, visit this website or call 718-776-3700 for more information.
