Jump-starting
effort to build new schools
As residents cite broken
promises, reformers act to revamp program
Thursday, May 26, 2005 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL •
Star-Ledger Staff
The new officers of New Jersey's Schools
Construction Corp. mapped out an aggressive reform plan
yesterday as frustrated residents called on them to restart
the state's stalled school building program.
"We don't see the groundbreaking that was
committed to us and promised to us," said Pedro Rivas, a
protester who was among 10 Paterson youngsters and parents
demanding construction of two new schools the state had
promised to begin this month. "Why are their schools not
being built?"
A delegation from Keansburg, led by
former Senate Co-President John Bennett, also appealed to
the board for action to get a long-delayed elementary school
project off the ground.
The agency stopped awarding new
construction contracts and slowed the award of change orders
at current school projects in March, when state Inspector
General Mary Jane Cooper found evidence of widespread
management problems and waste in the state's $8.6 billion
school building program.
Last week, the Schools Construction Corp.
suspended efforts to scout sites for new schools, saying it
will not have the money to build projects that are not under
way by Dec. 10.
Al Koeppe, the former Public Service
Electric & Gas chairman brought in last month to retool
the program, promised that the corporation's new board of
directors is working as quickly as possible to address the
inspector general's concerns and get the school program back
on track.
"We all know there is a certain amount of
urgency associated with moving this forward," Koeppe told
members of the board during their regular meeting yesterday.
"We need to get this machine churning out schools the way
it's supposed to."
Koeppe yesterday revamped the board of
directors and its committee structure to address concerns
that the SCC has wasted millions of dollars on unjustified
contract amendments and lax oversight.
"Over the next 90 days, step by step, I
expect that we will see a transformation of this agency in
procedures and, to the extent it's necessary, personnel," he
said.
Founded 2 1/2 years ago in response to a
state Supreme Court order requiring the state to rebuild
hundreds of inner-city schools, the SCC has spent $2.4
billion of the $6 billion allotted for the job. The balance,
according to SCC officials, is committed to school projects
already in the works. A separate $2.5 billion in grants for
suburban communities is already fully committed.
The program was sharply criticized last
year after chief executive officer Jack Spencer suggested
the agency was running short of cash. In February, acting
Gov. Richard Codey asked Cooper to investigate after a
Star-Ledger analysis found that the six schools built by the
SCC since 2002 cost, on average, 45 percent more than 19
schools built without SCC involvement at the same
time.
The inspector general's preliminary
report in April concluded that the agency was fraught with
management problems that left it vulnerable to "waste, fraud
and abuse of taxpayer dollars." Codey then installed Koeppe
as chairman of the corporation and demanded prompt action on
a series of reforms Cooper had recommended.
Yesterday, Koeppe said he was pleased
with progress on the reforms, including the hiring of the
corporation's first chief financial officer and the
implementation of a more thorough review process for work
change orders.
He directed the chief financial officer,
Peter Maricondo, to prepare a full accounting of the
corporation's finances, including details on how much of the
corporation's money has been spent, how much has been
committed and how much more it would take to build all the
schools proposed under the court order.
"It's clear we need a closer accounting
of the $8.6 billion that was entrusted to our stewardship
and what remains of that amount," Koeppe said.
Yesterday's meeting was disrupted briefly
by the arrival of protesters from Paterson, who carried a
pledge Spencer had signed in February promising a spring
start on two new schools.
In Paterson, the SCC's retooling has
delayed the start of construction on three projects that
were scheduled to get under way this month -- a new high
school, a new elementary school and renovations at an aging
elementary school.
After speaking at the public meeting, the
protesters met with several SCC officers, who promised that
the schools would be under construction by the end of the
year.
"It will begin, without a doubt," said
Donald Moore, managing director for design and development
at the SCC. "The schools are being delivered a little later
than what was promised to you."
Keansburg Mayor George Hoff lamented that
delays in acquiring land for a new school mean his
3-year-old son may be forced to attend preschool in the same
temporary classroom trailer that Hoff attended 28 years
ago.
Koeppe said he is working to make sure
projects poised for construction can begin without
delay.
Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may
be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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