Community Education Council District 2
333 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York 10001
Tel (212) 356-3915 Fax (212) 356-7506
www.cecd2.net
Shino Tanikawa, President
Simon Miller, 1st Vice President
Elizabeth Weiss, 2nd Vice President
Sarah Chu, Treasurer
Tamara Rowe, Recording Secretary
Jade Silver, Student Member
Beth Cirone
Demetri Ganiaris
Cheryl D. Glover
Eric Goldberg
Michael Markowitz, P.E
MINUTES
Calendar Meeting – Official Copy
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
I.
Call to Order and Roll Call:
The Calendar Meeting (“CM”) of Community Education Council District 2 (hereinafter
“Council” or “CECD2”) was called to order by Shino Tanikawa at 6:55 pm.
Present, Sarah Chu, Beth Cirone, Demetri Ganiaris, Cheryl Glover, Eric Goldberg,
Michael Markowitz, Simon Miller, Tamara Rowe, Jade Silver, Shino Tanikawa, and
Elizabeth Weiss
In attendance: Mariano Guzman, Community Superintendent and Jennifer Greenblatt,
District Family Advocate
11 present; 0 absent
II.
Guest Speaker:
Mike Mirisola, Manager Community Relations
School Construction Authority
Mr. Mirisola spoke about Public Art for Public Schools and discussed the School
Construction Authority Business Development Programs. He also gave an overview of
the 2010-2014 Capital Plan. Some of the highlights of his presentation included the
following:
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PS 51 will have a new school building at 44 Street.
Peck Slip School (PS 343) capacity increased from 476 to 656
Reaffirm the need for 50,000 seats citywide. 3,846 seats have been identified for
District 2 with an additional 778 seats added for a total of 4,624 seats. There are 5
projects 3 of which are not yet sited but are geographically located. Projects that are
sited include PS 340 (Foundling) - 518 seats opening Sept. 14, IS/HS 868 (15 Street)
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– 307 middle school seats for the Clinton School, PS 343 (Peck Slip – 656 seats
opening Sept. 15, PS/IS 281 Solo site – 640 seats opening Sept. 13, PS 59 (MEETH)
374 seats opening Sept. 12, PS 51 – 321 seats opening Sept. 13. The SCA is using a
new strategy of focusing on neighborhoods rather than the entire district when
planning for new schools.
Capital Improvement – every year a team of architects and engineers go to every
school and inspect the building from top to bottom and rate needs from 1 to 5. Due to
budget cuts, the SCA can only fix the most severe items. District 2 received 73
million for capital improvement. Some of the completed projects include PS 1 which
received an exterior modernization, JHS 70 received a new roof, new windows and
exterior modernization, PS 3 received new floors and tiles in the stairways, PS 124
and PS 41 received exterior modernization. Mr. Mirisola urged the CEC to use the
comment form provided and to focus on capital needs rather than building
maintenance needs.
44 projects received Reso A funding from the City Council and the Manhattan
Borough President. The following schools received Reso A funding: PS 41 and PS 6
received green roofs and PS 158 and 126 received a new library.
There were various questions from the council.
Council members raised concerns about the subdistrict classification of Tribeca and the
Village for planning purposes, particularly since Foundling and 10 East 15th Street are
north of this subdistrict. A request was made to better align schools with neighborhood
needs. Tamara Rowe stated that the CEC and many Community Boards would like the
city to require a contribution from all residential developers for school construction so
that the cumulative impact of residential development on neighborhood schools could be
better addressed. Mr. Mirisola reported that the SCA is already working with some
developers, such as Riverside. Other council members noted discrepancies in some of
the data presented in the PowerPoint presentation, such as the fact that 26 Broadway
replaced existing seats rather than added new ones. A request for a needs-based
assessment prior to planning was made.
Michael Markowitz gave an analysis of Capital Plan. He stated that budget cuts were
disproportionate across boroughs. Manhattan was cut more than the other boroughs.
None of the Department of Education officials present at the meeting was able to explain
the disproportionate cuts. He is advocating for concerted political pressure to demand
needs based funding. He also noted that design only seats are illusory because they could
evaporate over time.
III.
Zoning Resolutions:
There was a discussion on the protocol. Ms. Chu made a motion to add Resolution #47
(Lower Manhattan Rezoning) to the agenda and it was seconded by Mr. Miller. The vote
was unanimous. Ms. Chu also made a motion to add Resolution #48 (UES Rezoning) to
the agenda and it was seconded by Mr. Miller. The vote was unanimous. Ms. Tanikawa
read Resolution #47 and 48 for the record.
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IV.
Public Session:
The following individuals addressed the council:
Sarah Blackburn
George James, PS 290
Sally Mason, PS 290
Rebecca Arnold
Judith Schneider, CB8
Beth Parisi, PS 116
Marlowe Bamberger, PS 116
Monica __________
Alfred Gonzalez
Debra Cohen, PS 290
V.
Vote on Resolutions:
Resolution #47 Lower Manhattan Rezoning
Mr. Goldberg made a motion to vote on Resolution #47 and it was seconded by Ms.
Cirone. There was a discussion on the resolution and Mr. Ganiaris suggested amending
the resolution and read the amendment into the record. There was further discussion on
the protocol and Mr. Goldberg withdrew his motion. Mr. Goldberg made a motion to
amend the resolution and it was seconded by Ms. Weiss. The vote was unanimous.
Resolution #48 Upper East Side Rezoning
Mr. Miller made a motion to vote on Resolution #48 and it was seconded by Mr.
Ganiaris. There was a discussion on the resolution and various council members made
comments on why/how they planned to vote. The roll call vote went as follows:
S. Tanikawa – yes
S. Miller – yes
E. Weiss – yes
S. Chu – yes
T. Rowe – yes
B. Cirone – yes
D. Ganiaris – yes
C. Glover – abstain
E. Goldberg – yes
M. Markowitz – yes
The vote was 9 yes, 0 no and 1 abstention. The resolution passes.
VI.
Second Public Session:
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There was a suggestion that CECD2 post notices throughout the community.
There were no comments on the amended Resolution #47 Lower Manhattan Rezoning.
Ms. Chu made a motion to approve Resolution #47 and it was seconded by Mr.
Markowitz. The roll call vote went as follows:
S. Tanikawa –yes
S. Miller – yes
E. Weiss – yes
S. Chu – yes
T. Rowe – yes
B. Cirone – yes
D. Ganiaris – yes
C. Glover – yes
E. Goldberg – yes
M. Markowitz – yes
The vote was 10 yes, 0 no and 0 abstentions. The resolution passes.
VII.
Superintendent’s Report:
Superintendent’s Guzman spoke about the dedication of the council and how he is
honored to be of service. Superintendent Guzman noted his responsibilities such as
Quality reviews – ten per year, working with networks, and guiding the responsibilities of
the student member of the council. He suggested that the student member of the council
report on what is happening in the District and call the report “Did You Know” and
handed it over to Jade Silver, Student Member who read the report. Superintendent
Guzman spoke about how excited principals were to share information. There was a
discussion on this issue.
Superintendent Guzman noted that he is also responsible for the following: rating
principals and determining whether they have met their goals, completion of probation
for administrators, teacher tenure, quality reviews, liaison with CECs, working closely
with network leaders.
There are currently 5 clusters which are responsible for assisting schools with budgets,
human resources, payroll, security, transportation and food services etc. The clusters can
have between ten and twelve networks reporting to them. There are sixty networks
throughout the city and they not only have these responsibilities but they are also
responsible for instructional support which is offered to schools as a resource. There was
further discussion on this issue.
VIII. Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 pm.
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Tamara Rowe
Recording Secretary
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