P'burg celebrates school plan

LOPATCONG TWP. | Phillipsburg School Board President Paul Rummerfield said only two days could possibly top Tuesday: the groundbreaking and the dedication of the new Phillipsburg High School.

Hours after learning the proposed school earned approval for state funding, local officials gathered to celebrate just below where the long-awaited school will rise.

"Finally, we can say we did it," town council President David DeGerolamo said.

The 115 acres off Belvidere Road have housed only new athletic fields since the state ran out of money for the project. To many, the driveway leading to the piece slated for the school felt like a road to nowhere.

But that was not the case Tuesday, when the New Jersey Schools Development Authority unanimously approved the school and 52 other projects.

"We haven't had a day like this in 50 years," said Jim Shelly, a Phillipsburg councilman and former school board president.

Some standing on the field said they could easily envision students filing into the new school, using its modern media center and library and conducting experiments in its science labs.

State officials said the earliest construction could begin is June 2009. It is expected to take 24 to 30 months, Rummerfield said.

"Our students are going to have a state-of-the-art facility," acting Superintendent George Chando said.

The existing high school is outdated and so overcrowded that 31 temporary trailers parked for the long term on its campus as makeshift classrooms.

Since the project halted in 2005, the Phillipsburg community, including districts that send students to the high school, has lobbied for a new facility. They sent countless letters, made rounds of phone calls and rallied and met with officials of all levels to fight for the school.

"It was a collaborative effort," Rummerfield said.

DeGerolamo said things really began moving after he coordinated a January meeting among him, a small group that included area officials and members of the governor's office.

The state knew of Phillipsburg's plight, but during that meeting those officials got the chance to really understand the negative effects on the students, DeGerolamo said.

He also commended the styles that Chando and district Business Administrator Bill Poch used to further these efforts.

Lopatcong Township Mayor Doug Steinhardt said Tuesday he is pleased and proud that his municipality will host the new school.

Chando said under the district's long-range facilities plans, the existing high school would be renovated into a middle school for sixth through eighth grades. The existing middle school would house third- through fifth-grade students. Andover-Morris and Green Street schools would serve the lower elementary school children.

School board members would then determine the futures of Barber and Freeman schools.