The School Construction Authority (SCA) was established by the New York State Legislature in December 1988 to build new public schools and manage the design, construction and renovation of capital projects in New York City's more than 1,400 public school buildings, half of which were constructed before 1949.
The School Construction Authority manages the Department of Education's Capital Program and is solely accountable for planning, real estate, and budgeting, as well as the scoping, design and construction of new schools and additions, as well as capital improvements to existing schools.
Placement of sole responsibility for the Capital Plan with the SCA offers several key benefits:
The completed FY2015-2019 Capital Plan continued the SCA’s advancement in providing state of the art learning facilities for New York City’s more than one million school children.
Through the Plan’s Capacity Program, 24,789 seats were constructed or are currently in process. Of the almost 25,000 seats, more than 21,600 will serve elementary and middle school students, and more than 3,100 seats were created for high school students throughout the five boroughs.
In 2014, Mayor de Blasio launched Pre-K for All and in 2017, 3-K for All was added. At the end of the 2015-2019 Plan, over 10,000 Pre-K and 3-K seats were created through these Initiatives for our youngest students.
In September 2020, 10 new schools and 12 new 3-K centers will open throughout the five boroughs adding a total of 7,061 seats citywide.
As always, the SCA's primary goal is to ensure that NYC public school children have the facilities necessary to prepare them for the 21st century and beyond. The SCA keeps moving forward, constantly innovating to ensure that we design and build schools that meet the current needs of our students and teachers. In all areas, our staff works to ensure the consistent high quality of work and that public dollars are spent wisely.