Newark
feels sting of broken promise
School plan halt stuns
parents
Sunday, May 22, 2005 • BY STEVE CHAMBERS •
Star-Ledger Staff
Ridge Street Elementary School in
Newark's North Ward is sandwiched by classroom trailers that
practically swallow what used to be a playground. The
cafeteria is used for classes when lunch isn't being served,
and the average class size hovers over 30.
Ridge Street also is a school that was
supposed to be fixed by the Schools Construction Corp., the
state agency charged with a $6 billion building and
renovation plan for New Jersey's 31 poorest school
districts. Yesterday, parents who over the years had praised
Ridge Street's educational program and been looking forward
to their little school tripling in size got terrible news:
The SCC, under fire for excessive spending, had stopped
projects in areas like Ridge Street that still need to
acquire land.
For advocates and politicians in the poor
districts, it was the most tangible sign yet that promises
made about shining new schools had been broken -- at least
for now.
"They need to stand up and fight for this
money," said Iris Vanessa Serrano, a medical billing agent
who recently moved near Ridge Street School, in part, so her
6-year-old daughter, Destiny, and 8-year-old son, David,
could attend the K-8 school. "They should do it for the
kids. They deserve a school that can help them go
up."
As fallout spread from a report in The
Star-Ledger yesterday that the SCC had stopped land
acquisition, Newark residents like Vanessa Serrano were left
to digest the worst news of all: Just two of the 40 new
schools and 30 renovations the district says it needs are
under way, and officials said just seven more are ready to
move forward.
Put another way, only nine of the 70
projects in the state's largest city will be finished unless
more funding is set aside.
"It's very upsetting to the community,
the city and everybody," said Corwin Frost, an architect and
facilities consultant to the Newark district. "It's the
wrong way to go. A waste of money would be the best way to
describe it."
Ridge Street was one of four Newark
projects poised to move forward that now faces delays. The
others are Rafael Hernandez Elementary, also in the North
Ward; Franklin Elementary and University High
School.
The SCC has bought a dozen houses around
Ridge Street School, and they sat boarded up yesterday. But
two more houses need to be purchased before construction
contracts can be signed.
TIME TO RE-EVALUATE
Jerry Murphy, chief operating officer of
the SCC, yesterday said there still is a chance projects far
enough along will be built. He said the SCC needs to analyze
how much money is needed to fully acquire school sites to
ensure it doesn't sign construction contracts for schools it
can't afford to finish.
After the SCC completes its land analysis
in roughly a month, Murphy said, it will decide how many
schools it can afford to build. No new construction
contracts will be signed after Dec. 10. Assembling school
sites in urban areas is often complex, involving dozens of
parcels, he said.
"We need to do the inventory to know what
we have," Murphy said. "If you're half-pregnant, you may
want to buy the rest of the property and land bank it. If
you're less than half, it might make sense to move on and
secure things elsewhere."
The SCC has been under fire since
February, when The Star-Ledger reported state projects
managed by the agency were costing more than suburban ones
that had been managed by local districts. The report
prompted acting Gov. Richard Codey to order an investigation
and, later, a major overhaul of the SCC, which is still in
progress.
Supporters of the construction program
argue $6 billion wasn't enough to build all the schools
needed, no matter how efficient the SCC could have been.
About half the needed schools will be built when the program
runs dry, officials estimate.
Urban superintendents and their
supporters have argued the Legislature must replenish the
fund to satisfy the landmark New Jersey Supreme Court order
in 1998 that led to the $8.6 billion project. (The other
$2.6 billion has been used to supplement projects in
wealthier districts.) Lawmakers have yet to act.
PLACING THE BLAME
Yesterday, fingers already were being
pointed about where fault lies.
Newark Councilman Hector Corchado, who
represents the heavily Latino North Ward, said he was "very
disappointed about the way this has been managed,
particularly by the SCC. Because of their mismanagement, our
children and our community as a whole will be
suffering."
For their part, state officials said city
and district officials share the blame.
Schools projects were doled out on a
first-come, first-serve basis after legislation to fund the
$6 billion urban project was passed in 2000. Some smaller
districts, such as Perth Amboy, Long Branch and Neptune,
lined up and got their schools built. Places like Newark and
Camden were slower to react.
"There is plenty of blame to go around,"
said Samuel Gonzalez, an Essex County freeholder who lives
in the North Ward and serves on the school board. Several
years ago, district officials publicly announced locations
for proposed schools and developers have swooped in and
sought approvals to build houses on some properties. In some
cases, approvals were given and houses even built, driving
up SCC acquisition costs.
"I'm for building new houses, too, but
I've long been concerned about where we were going to put
these kids," Gonzalez said. "Maybe we, as a city, should
have stepped back and done some planning."
IN DISMAY
While officials carried on this debate,
residents were left confused and stunned.
"All we hear are promises from the
politicians," said Tania Aulisio, as she stood on the
sidewalk in front of Ridge Street School with her
13-year-old daughter, Stephanie. "But my taxes doubled last
year, up to more than $4,000. I think it's time to
move."
Michelle Rojas, whose 12-year-old son,
Christopher, attends the school, was more
subdued.
"That's really sad," she said. "The kids
are all excited about the new school. Somebody needs to find
a way to get it done."
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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