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Students and parents urge council to keep Da Vinci move to SUNY Buffalo State; controller raises bond-issuance ownership question
Summary
Da Vinci High School students, faculty and parents urged the council to proceed with a planned move to SUNY Buffalo State funded by bond proceeds the council approved; the controller said the city must hold a financial interest (for example, a long-term lease) before the city can issue the bonds and sell them to the market.
Students, faculty and parents of Leonardo Da Vinci High School told the finance committee they support the school's planned move to a renovated facility at SUNY Buffalo State and urged the council and administration to finalize lease and bonding arrangements so the project can proceed.
Principal Leslie Potempa and a delegation of students, faculty and parents described the academic and facility benefits of relocating Da Vinci to the college campus, saying the move supports dual-enrollment courses, access to the library, lecture halls and athletics facilities that are important for college readiness. A student speaker said the current facility lacks an elevator, a full auditorium and adequate athletic and library spaces; parents and teachers described the move as critical to equity and long-term student success.
Council members supported the educational goals but the controller's office raised a procedural issue: the city typically needs a financial interest in the property (for example, a long-term lease) before the comptroller can issue bonds for the project. "The city needs a financial interest in the property. So if they do not have that, we cannot go out to bond for it," said Greg Samanski, the city's investment/debt officer with the comptroller.
Board of Education administration officials told the committee the Board approved a draft lease in September and that teams are working to finalize the lease with SUNY Buffalo State. Chief of Administration Will Kouestas said the district intended to meet the comptroller's submission timetable so the bond issuance could proceed in the city's normal cycle, which typically sells bonds in the spring.
Council members said they want the project to proceed and discussed options to reconcile the lease requirement with bond-timing needs; council members requested copies of the final lease when executed so the controller's office can complete its review and the city can proceed with any needed bond resolutions.
What happens next: the Board of Education and Buffalo State teams will finalize the lease language and submit the package to the controller's office and bond counsel for review; council members may be asked to act on bond resolutions in the council's docket once legal and financial preconditions are satisfied.
