State Sen. Frank Padavan now has a city public school named after him. But several Democrats argue that his standards for properties leased for schools do not make the grade.

Facing overcrowded classrooms and an expected budget crunch, New York City's Department of Education has increasingly turned to leased buildings to help create new public schools in a hurry. But parents, politicians and environmental activists say that the leased sites leave too many loopholes in the safety review process.

“When the city plans construction on a site that's been purchased for a new school building, under state law they need to notify the community board and the City Council and go through an environmental quality review,” said David Palmer, a staff attorney for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “But if the school is leased, they don't require those steps. When we are talking about contaminated properties, this puts children at risk.”

The Department of Education's five-year capital plan calls for the city to lease 35 school buildings. Palmer has already fought for additional environmental testing at the High School for Information Technology, which opened in 2003 on the grounds of a metal warehouse in Long Island City and at a school opened in 2004 in a former factory in the Soundview section of the Bronx. The Department of Education also drew controversy over an Ozone Park, Queens, elementary school at a chemical storage site, and a Harlem elementary school located in a closed dry cleaning plant.

Palmer joined parents, politicians and education groups at the School Construction Authority's headquarters in Long Island City on April 28 to mark National Healthy Schools Day and protest the discrepancies in the law. The coalition expressed support for a bill introduced last month by State Sen. John Sabini (D-Queens) that would force the Department of Education to notify community boards of leased property, receive City Council approval and follow the criterion of the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

An identical bill sponsored by Assembly Education Committee Chair Cathy Nolan (D-Queens) passed last June.

“We are putting schools in industrial areas because of crowding,” said Sabini, who had chaired the subcommittee on Landmarks and Public Siting when he was on the City Council. “But to shorten or lessen the review that is given to the sites is unfair and not right for the students and the personnel in the schools.”

But the bill is not likely to get much notice in the Republican-controlled State Senate, where a bill by Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) covering leased school buildings passed last summer. Padavan's bill requires that leased properties receive approval of the School Construction Authority after tests of soil, air and groundwater, but does not necessitate involvement of the city council or community board.

Padavan says that his version provides stringent environmental protection, explaining that its process “stresses transparency and provides rigorous environmental oversight for school leasing sites throughout New York City.”

The law “achieves the fundamental goals of enacting the necessary safeguards for students, teachers, faculty and administrators,” he added, in a statement.

But local residents disagree, saying that the community needs more input.

In March, Queens' Community Board 7 voted unanimously to pass a resolution asking the State Senate to amend Padavan's bill to match the Assembly bill, which would allow for stricter oversight of plans for leased schools.

“We'd like right of review when things come up, but we would be willing to shorten the review process if necessary,” said Community Board 7 chair Gene Kelty. “Sometimes we know things about the area and want to bring it to the city's attention before they make a mistake.”

And some in the Council, led by Queens Democrats James Gennaro, Eric Gioia and John Liu, have jockeyed for a larger role themselves. Last summer, the Council’s Education Committee voted in favor of making leased schools follow the same environmental reviews as sites owned by the city.

“It's unconscionable that the Department of Education is using this loophole at the expense of the kids,” said Liu. “The Department Of Education can do stricter environmental testing voluntarily without waiting for the state mandate.”

Margie Feinberg, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, disagreed, maintaining that the School Construction Authority's testing is stringent and focused on keeping students safe.

“Site management plans contain all monitoring and maintenance deemed necessary by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in accordance with New York State law, and the School Construction Authority conducts air quality tests more extensively than the state requires,” she said.

But there does seem to be movement toward stronger protections. At the end of April, Padavan announced plans to amend his bill to require the Department of Education to conduct at least one public hearing in each district where a new lease is proposed.

For the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, that will still not result in enough testing and feedback.

“Padavan's bill still calls for a truncated environmental review process,” Palmer said. “We want the sites to go through a proper review so that city school children aren't facing the risk of asthma, cancer and learning disabilities.”