High school project on hold

LOPATCONG TWP. | Phillipsburg High School students and their parents have been here before.

Just when it looks like the Stateliners' new high school is a sure thing, a new hurdle appears.

This time plans for the 300,000-square-foot school off Belvidere Road in Lopatcong Township have been stalled by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, which is overseeing the state-funded project.

The authority is reviewing the nearly 50 school projects slated to be built but not yet under construction.

Phillipsburg schools Superintendent Mark B. Miller said he's been assured by SDA Chief Executive Officer Mark Larkins that Phillipsburg High School remains a priority, though it's unclear when work at the site will start up again.

Larkins visited the district in mid-July to speak with Miller about the project and to view the current high school in Phillipsburg, where more than 1,500 students take many of their classes in some 30 trailers parked on campus.

In an e-mail Thursday, Miller said he hopes to learn more about the high school's progress next week, including how the delay might affect the school's proposed 2013 opening.

"We have a very important conference call on (Tuesday) that will have more information," Miller said.

'No projects advancing'

Larry Hanover, spokesman for the authority, said the review of each project began in March and is slated to wrap up in October.

"We are making sure projects on the plan represent education priorities in the districts and ensure the proper use of taxpayer money," Hanover said. "No new projects will be advancing to construction while under this review."

Once the analysis is complete, Hanover said, the next step will be to determine how to use the data.

The spokesman couldn't say whether the review would signal a reduction in the 49 projects awaiting construction.

An SDA report released last month didn't offer those details, either. That report placed Phillipsburg High School among 26 other schools still in the design phase, with another 23 projects categorized in the pre-development stage.

PHS among costliest

Officials at October's groundbreaking said the new Phillipsburg High School is among New Jersey's most expensive SDA projects, with an estimated cost of about $174.4 million.

State Sen. Michael Doherty, R-Warren/Hunterdon, said the need for the Phillipsburg facility should be clear.

"The Phillipsburg application has been picked over with a fine-toothed comb," Doherty said Thursday. "I think they've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt how they need a new school. I think the delay is unfortunate."

Parents in Phillipsburg and the five sending districts -- Alpha, Bloomsbury and Greenwich, Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships -- have fought for a new school for more than a decade.

One of hardest blows to the community came in 2005 when the now-defunct New Jersey School Construction Corp. announced that a Phillipsburg High School would have to wait because the funding agency ran out of money.

It wasn't until July 2008 that the school district learned the SDA would fund the building of a new high school.

Doherty, hopeful the delay will be short-lived, said he will stand behind the school district.

"I'm going to continue to advocate for their project," Doherty said. "I'm hoping this is just a temporary bump in the road."