Comptroller: DOE Needs To Correct Errors In Determining School Space
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A new audit by the city comptroller suggests the city needs to pay closer attention to the way it determines which schools are overcrowded and which have extra space.
Every year, the Department of Education surveys principals to compile what's known as the Blue Book. That data is then used to decide where new schools should be built, and which buildings have room to fit new small schools or charter schools.
An audit released Wednesday by the comptroller's office found errors in several schools' Blue Books.
The comptroller recommends the DOE do a better job correcting errors and training principals about the surveys.
DOE officials said they have already improved the process, and the blue books are just one factor in decisions about school building use.
The Blue Book system has come under fire in the past from critics who argue the numbers are not an accurate representation of which schools are actually overcrowded.