All topics / Building Human Potential / School Construction Authority
Construction bid price for school capacity projects per square foot ($)
Design and construct new schools, additions and capital improvement projects authorized by the Department of Education. — Achieve cost efficiencies in construction.
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | $905.00 | $800.00 |
| FY23 | $912.00 | $800.00 |
| FY24 | $894.00 | $900.00 |
| FY25 | $870.00 | $900.00 |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | $900.00 |
$870.00 in FY25 — missed the City's own target for this indicator ($30.00 below the $900.00 target), and it has trended in the wrong direction over the past 3 years of reported data.
Why this is tracked
The New York State Legislature created the School Construction Authority in 1988 after concluding that the Board of Education's Division of School Facilities had completely failed at building high-quality schools and keeping them in repair, citing what lawmakers called the "deplorable condition" of city schools and a lack of accountability. The new public-benefit corporation was designed to remove capital construction from the Board of Education and address structural obstacles like the state's Wicks Law, which had driven up costs and delays on public works projects. SCA now designs and builds new schools and capital improvement projects on the Department of Education's behalf.
New York City School Construction Authority - History, City Journal - Why New York Can't Build Schools
Source: SCA Finance Department — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported annually.
Definition: The construction contract cost at award divided by the school’s total gross floor area (measured to the outside of exterior walls on each floor). For new schools and additions, the reported construction contract cost per square foot reflects costs attributable to the new building.