City Newspaper Archives - 4/2008
EDUCATION: City schools project to get oversight board
Published by Tim Louis Macaluso on Apr 02, 2008
City Schools Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard and Mayor Bob Duffy are meeting next week to appoint the oversight board for the school district's $700 million, 15-year building modernization project. The State Legislature approved $325 million last fall to begin improvements on the first 13 city schools. | The superintendent and the mayor each get to appoint three members to the board, and a seventh member will be mutually determined. Brizard and Duffy are looking for candidates with financial and construction experience. The board - which will include Duffy and Brizard - will hire a project manager to oversee construction. | Public meetings will be held in the neighborhoods where the schools are located, to give parents and residents an opportunity to have input into the planning. | The average age of the city's schools is 61, and most are in need of major reconstruction. | School districts in Buffalo and Syracuse have already taken advantage of the several billion dollars the state has made available for major improvements to the Big Four school districts.
