Metro

De Blasio submits pre-K contracts for review late: Stringer

Mayor de Blasio’s first pre-K ­assignment? Tardy.

The administration of the habitually behind-schedule mayor has failed to turn over 70 percent of its more than 500 universal-pre-K contracts for review by city auditors — just one week before the start of the school year, the city’s financial chief said.

Comptroller Scott Stringer sounded the alarm late Wednesday over the significant failing, noting that some of the contracts submitted so far have raised red flags.

A former employee of one hopeful pre-K provider has been hit with a child-pornography charge, while another vendor had six violations for allegedly failing to cross-check staffers with the state registry of child abuse, Stringer’s office said.

Additionally, many of the 141 contracts submitted had defects, including missing permits and ­inconsistent data on the number of kids to be served.

Some vendors — including community-based organizations, nonprofits and religious groups — also weren’t up to date on charity-filing requirements, the ­reviews found.

“I don’t want to sacrifice safety for expediency,” Stringer told The Post. “Many of the UPK providers have never done business with the city before — which makes contract review all the more ­important.”

Stringer, the city’s top money watchdog, emphasized that pre-K sites are still allowed to open on schedule without having their contracts registered by his office.

He said all of the uncovered ­errors have been addressed by the administration, either by resolving the issues or — in three cases — withdrawing contracts.

The comptroller’s auditors said 107 contracts have been reviewed thus far — and found that half initially had administrative or integrity issues.

Overall, one contract was ­rejected and 94 were approved, the auditors said.

City Hall officials downplayed the significance of the delay, pointing to the fact that just 22 percent of new pre-K contracts had been registered when the 2013 school year got under way.

They said Stringer’s figures also left out more than 100 contracts that he approved for sites managed by the Administration for Children’s Services.

De Blasio said the city already does its own thorough review of providers and dismissed the hiccup as “administrative paperwork.”

“We scrutinize every pre-K center the same way a parent would, because we’re parents, too,” he said. “Parents can rest assured: These high-quality programs will be ready, they will be safe, and they will meet the very highest standards.”

He added that the contracts would be submitted to the Comptroller’s Office in a “timely” fashion.

Auditors typically have 30 days to conduct the integrity reviews.

The Post has also learned that at least 11 sites meant to serve as pre-K centers were still under construction as of early August, according to the Department of Design and Construction.

Yet officials at the agency have refused to identify those sites for more than three weeks.

City Hall officials have also refused to cough up the locations since asked last Friday about the delays.