The state of New Jersey has agreed to pay for several new facilities to take the place of some of Newark’s oldest school buildings — but district leaders say the plan leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced.
Chalkbeat Newark reports that the state’s Schools Development Authority (SDA) will pay to replace 13 school buildings built before 1920, according to Newark Superintendent Roger León.
But leaders of Newark Public Schools have identified 33 schools that need replacing and dozens more that need renovations. The state has identified Newark’s needs, but more funding must be in place to move forward with the plans, according to Edye Maier, the SDA’s director of communications.
District leaders say they will ask the community for help in choosing which 13 schools will be replaced, but they must first submit district-wide facilities needs, cost assessments, and other project proposals to the state. Under a 1985 New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision (Abbott v. Burke), the development authority is obligated to pay for construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts.
Newark’s public schools are among the oldest in the state. Many Newark schools lack central air conditioning and heating systems, and more modern campuses need building renovations and upgrades to boilers, roofs, among other needs. Last year, León estimated that it would take more than $2 billion to repair and update all schools.
Since 2006, only eight new schools have been built in the district; one other property was given to the district by the state and then used for a school.
Since 2016, district officials have asked the SDA to fix more than 100 buildings, but the authority has only approved 11 for repairs.
The Newark district has about 42,000 pre-K-12 students in its 63 schools.
