By Forum Staff
Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. on Monday announced his allocation of more than $30.49 million in capital funding for borough schools in Fiscal Year 2024.
The announcement was made at August Martin High School in South Jamaica, which received $4.25 million in FY24 capital funding from Borough President Richards for a trio of projects — $2 million to renovate the school’s cafeteria, $1.5 million to upgrade the aging gymnasium and $750,000 to install a cooling system in its auditorium.
“To be successful, a school needs to have high-quality facilities that provide a modern and comfortable learning environment for its students,” said Richards. “Sadly, many schools in our borough and city do not have such facilities thanks to long-standing disinvestment in school infrastructure. To address this, I focused my latest round of school capital allocations on rectifying long-standing inequity in school infrastructure spending, especially among Queens high schools. That’s why I’m proud to announce my allocation of more than $30 million in Fiscal Year 2024 funding to pay for capital projects at August Martin High School and at public schools across Queens.
“I believe in high-quality school buildings,” Richards added on Twitter. “I believe in a top-notch education. And I believe ALL Queens students deserve both of those things — regardless of ZIP code or socioeconomic status. This is just the beginning of a true reimagining of what communities can look like.”
Richards’ total FY24 allocation of $30.49 million is significantly more than what he allocated to schools in FY22 ($11.5 million) and FY23 ($10.7 million) combined. It also represents his largest single-year allocation in any category of investment. Overall, Borough President Richards has allocated nearly $53 million in capital funding to Queens schools since he took office in December 2020.
Other highlights from the Borough President’s $30.5 million FY24 allocation include:
- A combined $8 million for auditorium upgrades across Jamaica High School in Jamaica, Queens High School for Information, Research and Technology in Far Rockaway, M.S. 72 in Rochdale, P.S. 132 in Laurelton and P.S. 171 in Astoria.
- $1.65 million for athletic field renovations and locker room upgrades at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Hills.
- $1.1 million for a cafeteria cooling system, a video production room and upgrades to the computer lab at the Springfield Gardens Educational Campus in Springfield Gardens.
- $1 million for playground renovations at P.S. 118 in Hollis.
- $1 million for locker room upgrades at John Adams High School in Ozone Park.
- $1 million for library renovations at P.S. 136 in St. Albans.
- $750,000 for a new media and graphics arts center at Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill.
In keeping with his past pledge to significantly increase the number of hydroponics labs in schools across Queens, Borough President Richards also allocated a total of $700,000 to construct new hydroponics labs across Maspeth High School in Maspeth, Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences in Jamaica Hills, P.S. 52 in Springfield Gardens and P.S. 360 in St. Albans.
Borough President Richards was joined at the press conference by August Martin High School leadership and representatives from the New York City School Construction Authority and the United Federation of Teachers, along with other local education leaders, including the Borough President’s representative on the Panel for Educational Policy, Shirley Aubin.
