New York City Board of Education Division of School Facilities: Repairs and Maintenance Program Needs To Be Accelerated To Alleviate the Disrepair in City Schools, Report No. A-18-93.

The New York City Board of Education's Division of School Facilities (DSF) is responsible for the repairs and maintenance of all public schools and other board facilities. This report contains findings of an audit conducted by the Office of the State Comptroller of the DSF's Repair and Maintenance Program. The audit focused on the DSF's efforts to make needed repairs in a timely manner and its efforts to correct code violations issued to it by the Fire Department and the Department of Buildings. The auditors analyzed information regarding outstanding work orders as of July 1993, visited 12 schools, and reviewed the code violations cited for the 12 schools. A separate sample of schools was used to assess the extent of asbestos-abatement work. The audit found that DSF's tardiness in completing work contributed to the deterioration of physical conditions in New York City's schools. Additionally, many schools still contained asbestos 2-4 years after the problems were first identified. Finally, the DSF did not take timely action to resolve violations issued by the Fire Department and Department of Buildings, with violations remaining outstanding an average of 362 days. The report made 16 recommendations for improving DSF operational efficiency. The board generally agreed with the recommendations and reported that it was presently undergoing a major reorganization of its maintenance operations. Appendices contain a list of the schools visited, the status of work orders as of July 1993, a list of outstanding violations at sampled schools, and a list of major contributors to the report. (LMI)