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New UWS School to Get Up to $30M Less Funding for Upgrades, Officials Say

By Emily Frost | February 4, 2016 6:28pm
 West End Secondary School (WESS) moved into its new building on West 61st Street last year.
West End Secondary School (WESS) moved into its new building on West 61st Street last year.
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NYC Outward Bound Schools

UPPER WEST SIDE — The Department of Education has dramatically revised its funding allocation for upgrades to a new middle and high school — reducing its projected spending by $25 to $30 million, local leaders said. 

Last spring, the School Construction Authority promised to make approximately $50 million in capital improvements to the West 61st Street building, where the new West End Secondary School (WESS) opened this past September. 

The space was formerly occupied by Beacon High School, with the renovations intended to improve the space and make it more suitable as a 6-12 school.

To the disappointment of parents and elected officials, the upgrades were delayed as lease negotiations between the DOE and the building owner stalled for at least 10 months. News of a "handshake" agreement between the parties was revealed at the end of January. 

Now that construction can ostensibly begin, however, the amount the SCA will dedicate to the work has at least been cut in half, leaving leaders scratching their heads about the change and concerned about how the cut came about.  

The $50 million projection, which was touted as a way to make improvements to the building to draw in students, "has somehow come down to $20 million," said Community Education Council 3 member Nan Mead at a meeting Wednesday night. 

City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal put the new figure estimated by the SCA at $25 million. 

Additionally, CEC 3 members were not clear about which improvements were occurring and when, they said. 

The SCA planned to elongate the gym, add a real kitchen to the cafeteria, move the dance studio and black box theater to the basement, add classrooms, improve science labs and make the bathrooms ADA accessible, DOE Superintendent Ilene Altschul told the CEC back in August of 2014. These were promises Principal Jessica Jenkins had used to recruit families, the CEC noted. 

The 227 W. 61st St. building, located between West End and Amsterdam avenues, currently has a small gym that only fits about 50 people, as well as no outdoor space for students.

Currently, WESS's first class of sixth-graders is sharing a playground with residents of the nearby Amsterdam Houses. The CEC had hoped the SCA would consider a possible rooftop space for students, but that idea may be off the table given the new budget figures, members said. 

A reduced budget has been put forth, "but [the SCA has] given no color on what’s been decided as to which of these things is necessary and which is not," Mead said. 

Rosenthal's chief of staff, Marisa Maack, said in an email that the "SCA feels they can make all the changes necessary to accommodate a 6-12" under the amended budget.

Still, the situation feels "murky," said CEC member Noah Gotbaum. 

"Can we just make sure that WESS gets the things that WESS was already promised?" Gotbaum asked his colleagues. 

The SCA will come before CEC 3 at a public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 154 West 93rd St. 

"When SCA comes, we need to get them to agree" to the capital improvements and confirm that the new building lease has actually been signed, Altschul said Wednesday. 

The Department of Education, which handles press inquiries for the SCA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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