New Jersey Schools Development Authority scales back Phillipsburg High School plan

State officials have scaled back the size of the new Phillipsburg High School, opting for cost savings now instead of room to grow in the future.

Representatives of the Phillipsburg School District and New Jersey Schools Development Authority met Thursday in Trenton and came away with preliminary designs for a building that is 38,000 square feet smaller than originally proposed, authority spokesman Larry Hanover said.

The reduction shrinks the price tag from the $174.4 million that made the proposal the costliest among the authority's 52 projects approved last year for construction statewide.

"It's going to be a significant reduction," said Hanover, who didn't have a new cost estimate.

In the works for years until the project halted in 2005 when the authority's predecessor ran out of money, the school was originally designed for 2,000-plus students.

Updated projections from the state Department of Education put the population at 1,750 when the school is schedule to open in 2013, Hanover said.

"When the population is less than originally designed, we're able to pick up additional savings, which is crucial for the taxpayers, crucial for the program," he said. "We're able to do more work with the money."

School district officials had thought they locked in the square footage to allow for future growth. But Phillipsburg schools Superintendent Mark B. Miller said he understands the reasoning.

"They were trying to project years out, and now they're taking more of a realistic approach," he said after the meeting.

Miller noted that some developments considered in past student projections, including the 396-home Hamptons at Pohatcong, have not been built.

"They take a look at the potential for expansion in the community and what developments are on the books," Miller said.

The project remains on an accelerated track, with construction slated to begin by year's end, Hanover said. It is one of 24 schools the authority plans to begin building this year.

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