P'burg
faces a 'critical' situation
District officials lobby
legislators for school funds
Tuesday, October 04, 2005 • By SARAH CASSI •
The Express-Times
TRENTON -- Phillipsburg School District
officials pleaded their case for the proposed $88 million
high school Monday at a joint committee on public schools
meeting.
Superintendent Gordon Pethick, Assistant
Superintendent Jacqueline Attinello and school board
President Rod Pianelli testified before the committee about
the district's current overcrowding and the history of the
high school project.
Pethick said the district would suffer a
"true tragedy" if the proposed high school is not
finished.
"This high school is critical to our
students and the education we provide them," Pethick
said.
Phillipsburg is one of 31 Abbott school
districts -- poor districts named after court decisions
ordering equitable per-pupil financing -- and expected the
New Jersey Schools Construction Corp. to pay for a new high
school.
Phillipsburg and other Abbott districts
were left in the lurch when the SCC revealed it had only
enough left of a $6 billion fund to finance 59 of an
anticipated 350 projects statewide. Despite Phillipsburg's
Abbott status, the state agency announced July 27 it decided
against plans to pay for the high school with the last $1.4
billion of the special fund.
Earlier this month SCC officials said the
new Phillipsburg high school's $8 million preliminary site
work, already under way, will be funded by the state. The
preliminary site work includes the construction of six
athletic fields, parking lots and a three-quarter-mile
entrance from Belvidere Road.
Attorney Robert Shapiro filed a motion
with the state Supreme Court last week on behalf of
Phillipsburg and the 12 other Abbott districts he
represents, seeking funding for projects approved by the
state Department of Education.
Pethick described the district's 41
trailers, which include 31 at the high school, three at the
middle school and seven at the elementary school.
Pethick said the trailers at the high
school pose health and safety issues. He said the trailers
are grouped at different points around the school, and that
the security situation they create frightens him.
"With 31 trailers we can't have a
security guard at every trailer," Pethick said.
Pethick also showed the committee
pictures of the high school's crowded lunch periods and
classrooms.
Pethick said that despite the
surroundings, Phillipsburg's students were still
successful.
"I'm very proud to state we have students
in every major Ivy League university in the country,"
Pethick said.
The trailers struck a note with state
Sen. Ronald L. Rice, the Newark Democrat who chairs the
committee.
"We're going to try and get some answers.
Thirty-one trailers seem to be quite a few trailers for a
school district," Rice said.
Pethick said he was pleased for the
opportunity to present the district's case. Although
officials were there to lobby for their individual projects,
Pethick said he didn't want to see districts battling each
other for funding.
"It's a tragedy across the state,"
Pethick said. "We want everyone to have funding for their
projects."
Pianelli said the next step for district
officials is focusing on the ad-hoc community committee as
well as seeking out other public speaking
opportunities.
"We need to keep abreast of any venue
that will hear us," Pianelli said.
Earlier in the day, the committee heard
from Al Koeppe, the SCC's new board chairman, and Peter E.
Maricondo, SCC's acting chief executive officer.
Koeppe said the SCC was seeking a higher
level of accountability and using responsible business
practices under his leadership.
Koeppe said the SCC recently hired a
financial controller and compliance officer, and the board
of directors approved a code of corporate conduct and a code
of ethics in July. The codes currently do not apply to
outside contractors.
Maricondo said he was leading the SCC
through project evaluation to ensure it is on time and on
budget.
Reporter Sarah Cassi can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by
e-mail at scassi@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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