The city has shuttered nine pre-K facilities over safety concerns and will delay the opening of 36 others due to slow construction, just two days before the start of the new school year.
Administration officials confirmed Tuesday that they will close nine of the city’s 1,700 pre-K sites for not meeting health and safety requirements, and will reassign 265 students to other programs.
Mayor de Blasio said he expected “a few” delays and closures at the beginning of the school year if administration officials were not satisfied with the conditions.
“We obviously are going to endeavor, in any case like that, to reach out to parents and make sure they know immediately what the situation is and what their options are,” de Blasio said.
“The bottom line is … an extraordinary effort is being mounted to ensure the effectiveness and the safety of our pre-K programs.”
The mayor’s ambitious plan to enlist tens of thousands of 4-year-olds in full-day pre-K has drawn scrutiny from watchdogs.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer chided the de Blasio administration for being late in sending the bulk of its 500 pre-K contracts for approval, and found integrity issues with about half of the contracts it reviewed.
“I am not going to put New Yorkers in a position where we do not do our independent review — something, God forbid, happens, and I was asleep at the switch,” Stringer said last week.
A spokesman for Stringer declined to comment on the latest pre-K delays and closures.
De Blasio scoffed at criticisms of tardiness.
“We’re less concerned about the paperwork. We’re more concerned about the immediate questions of safety,” he said.
The administration had sent 181 contracts for review and enrolled 51,505 students as of Tuesday.
City Hall officials have reached out to 107 parents from the shuttered schools and enrolled 83 students in alternative programs.
The closed schools are Child Development Support Corporation and Birch Family Services Center in Brooklyn; Rainbow Afterschool Program, Watson Avenue Early Childhood Center, and Rainbow Montessori in The Bronx; Manhattan Early Childhood Center in Washington Heights; and Queens Early Childhood Center, Alpha Academy, and Rising Stars Islamic School in Queens.
Another 900 students at 36 sites won’t begin their school year until Sept. 8 because of construction and permit delays, City Hall officials said.
No funds have been distributed to the organizations behind these schools.