Cost overruns vex schools’ construx

The city’s School Construction Authority is over budget on more than half its current major projects — costing taxpayers at least $300 million more than planned, city data show.

One project alone — the building of an annex at overcrowded PS 303 in Queens — has nearly doubled in cost, soaring from $53.9 million to $98.6 million, according to the figures.

“As with many other public agencies, far too many of the SCA projects are over time and over budget,’’ griped Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), citing numbers from an online site created by the city to track its cost overruns.

“As this analysis shows, it is incumbent on us as a city to achieve capital project management reform and take serious steps to get them on time and on budget,” Lander added.

There are currently cost overruns involving 22 of the 35 biggest school projects, or 63 percent, the figures show.

In addition to PS 303, PS 11 in Queens is adding an annex — and the project has skyrocketed above its estimated cost by $52 million, to $132.6 million, according to the figures.

A 345-seat annex for Curtis HS on Staten Island also is running $32.3 million over the baseline cost of $54.7 million.

Council members vowed to investigate the cost overruns.

“This is something . . . we would like to examine further — $300 million is nothing to play around with,” City Council Education Committee Chair Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) said.

“Certainly, that money could be used to build a number of new public schools.”

Lander and other members have called for the creation of a task force to oversee the city’s large construction projects and to expand the online review to include smaller projects.

The city Web site provides little insight into the cause of the booming costs. Most of the explanations simply say “other,” while a number say “scope changes” but nothing further.

Just last month, Mayor de Blasio highlighted the SCA as a model of efficiency when it comes to capital projects, contrasting it with the MTA, which is overseen by Gov. Cuomo.

“We’re giving them more and more money because they’re using it so well,” he said of the school-construction agency.

City Department of Education officials insisted that the online dashboard’s comparison of baseline costs to current projected price tags doesn’t account for alterations to projects — including when more seats are added.

The officials said some costs aren’t known until well into the construction timeline and can only be added then.

“Baseline costs are a preliminary estimate of construction costs and don’t account for additional work and changes to a project’s scope that arise during the normal course of construction,” said DOE spokesman Michael Aciman.

“We provide updated total project cost estimates to communities each year to reflect any change to a project’s scope.”

In the case of PS 11, officials said costs that were added after the baseline estimate included demolition of the existing building, the removal of temporary classrooms, restoring a play yard and making enhancements to the existing building.