State school construction program faces shutdown without new funding Thursday, January 25, 2007 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff New Jersey will have to start closing down its ambitious school construction program in May or June unless lawmakers move quickly to authorize new funding on top of the $8.6 billion allocated to the program six years ago. Scott Weiner, chief executive officer of the state Schools Construction Corp., told the agency's trustees at their regular meeting in Trenton yesterday the corporation still has portions of the original $8.6 billion available, but the money will be needed to complete construction of 34 school projects currently under way. "The time has come for us to start considering curtailment options," Weiner said. "We would be stopping projects from going into construction in the May-June time frame." As an alternative to suspending nonconstruction work in May, the corporation may consider stopping the award of new construction jobs earlier than May, allowing design work to continue on other projects. He said a final decision on when to stop launching new projects will be made in about a month. SCC officials are seeking authorization from the Legislature to borrow another $3.25 billion for the program, including $2.25 billion for construction in Newark, Camden and 29 more of the state's neediest communities. Republican lawmakers yesterday signaled they will oppose any new construction funding. "This school funding program has been such a debacle and such a disaster for the taxpayers and the children that it would be a dereliction of our duties if we use any more taxpayer dollars," said Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington). "The SCC as an agency no longer has the public's trust and the entire program needs to be scrapped and replaced with a more efficient program with tighter independent oversight." The corporation was set up in response to a 1998 state Supreme Court order in the long-running Abbott vs. Burke school funding lawsuit which required the state to cover the cost of rebuilding or replacing hundreds of outmoded and decrepit school buildings in the 31 communities included in the court case. Since then, 28 new school buildings have been completed, and extensive renovations have been made to about 50 more. Hundreds more schools are awaiting replacement and repairs in the poor communities. The program was slow in starting, and then collapsed in a tangle of waste and mismanagement that has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Under former Gov. Richard Codey and current Gov. Corzine a new management team has attempted to fix the program. Starting next month, Weiner said, SCC officials will try to convince lawmakers the program has been retooled enough to warrant additional funding to take on new school projects. In the meantime, board members praised the plans to brace for a delay in new funding. David Sciarra, the attorney who has pressed the Abbott lawsuit on behalf of schoolchildren in the 31 needy communities, said the Legislature is under court order to ensure the school improvements are funded. "It's time for the governor and the Legislature to work together promptly and provide more funding," he said. Dunstan McNichol may be reached at (609) 989-0341 or dmcnichol@starledger.com. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.