AFS

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- E Exemption No. 10782

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, DC 20591

In the matter of the petition of

AVIATI ON HIGH SCHOOL Regulatory Docket No. FAA

- 2013

- 0279

for an exemption from § 147.36 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations

GRANT OF EXEMPTION

By letter dated March 20, 2013, Mr. Mario Cotumaccio petitioned on behalf of Aviation High School, Queens Boulevard and 36 th Street, Long Island City, New York, for an exemption from § 147.36 of the Federal Aviation Regulations to permit Aviation High School to conduct instruction with a student/instructor ratio greater than the 25 to 1 ratio.

The petitioner requires relie f from the following regulation :

Section 147.36 states, in pertinent part, that each certificated aviation maintenanc e technician school shall, after certification or addition of a rating, continue to provide the number of instructors holding appropriate mechanic certificates and ratings that the Administrator determines necessary to provide adequate instruction to the s tudents, including at least one such instructor for each 25 students in each shop class.

The petitioner supports its request with the following information:

Aviation High School has maintained a proud history of serving New York City (NYC)

students as an “approved” Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) part 147 school for over 75 years. As a division of the NYC Department of Education, we are a free public education system funded by taxpayer dollars. We operate under the constraints of the NYC and N ew
Y o rk S tate (NYS) budgets. Schools who offer Career and Technical Educational Programs, similar to our FAA program, are funded to support a teacher to student class ratio of 1:28.

Our “non

- FAA” shop classes are also funded as such and have operated througho ut our history with great success and without incidents.2

The petitioner states that N ew Y ork S tate has recently announced severe budget cuts for all NYC public schools effective September 2013. Governor Cuomo’s proposed cuts will have devastating consequ ences for NYC schools ultimately leading to program closures, increases in class size, layoffs of teachers and support staff. In evaluating our budgetary needs for the upcoming school year, we can offset the budget cuts by increasing our teacher to studen t class

ratio from 1:25 to 1:28. The petitioner asserts that the increase will not affect the safety and/or quality of their program. The petitioner also states that g ranting this relief would not mean that all classes will operate with a 1:28 ratio; howe ver, it would permit Aviation High

School to go up to 28 students when the need arises.

The FAA determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition in the Federal Register. The requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any delay in acting on the petition would be detrimental to Aviation High School. In addition, the FAA previously published a similar summary for public comment, and no comments were

received.

The FAA's analysis is as follows:

The FAA has conducted an inspection and evaluation of the petitioner’s facilities and find that Aviation High School’s program assures a level of competence and safety equal to that provided by § 147.36.

The FAA’s Decision

In consideration of the foregoing, I find that a gra nt of exemption is in the public interest. Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, delegated to me by the Administrator, Aviation High School is hereby granted an exemption from § 147.36 to permit it to conduct FAA

- a pproved mechanic courses

in the 10 th and 11 th year classes with a student/instructor ratio up to 28 to 1, subject to the condition that Aviation High School ensures the facilities, instructional equipment, and instructor to student ratio continue to prov ide a level of safety equivalent to § 147.36.

This exemption terminates on June 30, 2015, unless sooner superseded or rescinded.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 31, 201 3

.

Sincerely,

/s/

John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service