Measure includes $2.5B
for regular districts,
$6B for Abbott districts
By CHARLES W. KIM and craig yetsko
Local school officials praised Gov. Christine Whitman for signing an $8.6 billion school construction bill on Tuesday.
Whitman called it the most comprehensive school construction program nationwide during the signing at Cranford High School, Cranford.
The funding provides $6 billion for the state’s 30 special needs districts, $2.5 billion for regular districts and $100,000 for county and vocational districts.
"Crumbling buildings are no place to send our students," the governor said. "That’s certainly true in the 30 Abbott districts, which will receive full state funding for all necessary facility improvements. But we know that many more schools are showing their age and need attention.
"This bill answers the court’s Abbott mandate responsively and responsibly," continued the governor. "What’s more, through the teamwork of the Legislature and my administration, our program will enable every district in New Jersey — urban, suburban and rural — to give our children safe and secure classrooms. In the process, it will relieve pressure on the property tax for these projects."
Bob Turco, North Brunswick’s acting schools superintendent, said that although the bill will not have an immediate effect on the district, the Board of Education has been following it closely.
He said the board will gather input from the public this fall regarding the present state of school facilities and future needs.
Under the bill, regular districts are eligible for 40 percent of the costs incurred to build new schools, while special need districts will receive 100 percent.
"It’s certainly something important for our Board of Education and the community," Turco said.
"Are we happy? Absolutely," said South Brunswick School Business Administrator Jeff Scott, although the district is not sure what part of its $47 million October 1999 referendum will be covered.
Scott said Wed-nesday that he would be attending a Garden State Coalition of Schools conference later that afternoon to discuss how the district will benefit from the new law.
"The bill has changed so much over the last year that it has been hard to follow," Scott said.
The bill makes funding retroactive to September 1998 and also enables districts to refinance debt.
"We need to know how we are going to get the money," Scott said, adding that the referendum "definitely falls in that time frame."
Previously Whitman conditionally vetoed the bill to provide that the construction program be operated by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), which has a strong record of financing and building major capital projects, according to Whitman.
The school construction program will address the facilities’ needs in the Abbott or special needs districts as directed by state Supreme Court, as well as the needs of non-Abbott districts. Any district that wants to undertake a school construction project will be required to apply to the com-missioner of education for approval of the project. The commissioner will review the proposed project to determine eligibility for aid.
While the bill addresses the needs in Abbott school districts such as Burlington City, it also provides a mechanism for the funding and construction of school facilities statewide. In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott vs. Burke case that the schools in 30 of the state’s neediest districts, the Abbott districts, needed rebuilding.
Under the bill, Abbott districts will be required to use the EDA for the construction of school facilities and will have all of their eligible costs paid by the state. In addition, districts that have a state support ratio equal to or greater than 55 percent will also be required to use the EDA for the construction of school facilities.
Meanwhile, districts that have a state support ratio of less than 55 percent can construct the project on their own or use the services of the EDA.
If the districts determine to handle the project on their own, they have the option of receiving either a one-time grant for the state share of the project or annual debt service aid for the project’s final eligible costs.
Yet school construction is only one of the state’s latest efforts to give kids the education they deserve, said Whitman, who cited tough academic standards, the integration of technology into classrooms to prepare children for the high-tech workforce and the elevation of teacher quality as examples of improvements made under her administration.
In her remarks, the governor thanked the sponsors of the legislation and praised the efforts of Senate President Donald DiFrancesco, as well as others in her administration and concerned citizens, and said, "No other state can equal the commitment we are making, and it is all in the name of our children."
The bill, S-200, which creates the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act, was sponsored by senators William L. Gormley (R-Atlantic) and John A. Lynch (D-Middlesex/Somerset/Union) and Assembly members Jack Collins (R-Salem/Cumberland/Gloucester) and Joseph R. Malone III (R-Burlington/Monmouth/Ocean).