State promises to replace 13 Newark schools as district mulls bond for other projects

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The state has agreed to fund several new facilities to take the place of some of Newark’s oldest school buildings — but the deal still leaves out 20 schools that need to be replaced, district officials say.

Through the state’s Schools Development Authority, New Jersey will pay to replace 13 school buildings built before 1920, said Superintendent Roger León during June’s board meeting.

But leaders of Newark Public Schools have identified 33 schools that need replacing and dozens more that need renovations. The state identified Newark’s need to replace its aging buildings but more funding is needed 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 the 13 schools but they must first submit district-wide facilities needs, cost assessments, and other project proposals to the state before the SDA secures funding from the legislature. Due to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s 1985 decision in 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, while more modern ones need building renovations and upgrades to boilers, roofs, among other needs. Last year, León estimated that it would take more than $2 billion to fully 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. And since 2016, district officials have asked the SDA to fix more than 100 buildings , but the authority has only approved 11 for repairs.

The legislature provides funding to the SDA on a “pay as you go basis” with no long-term funding to support their work.

With a state promise to help tackle Newark’s facilities needs, the district is also weighing whether to present a bond referendum to city voters next year to cover all school construction projects.

“We will decide, we meaning this community, will decide what are those 13 schools,” León said in June. “Now remember, the state is paying for those 13 schools, that’s good. But that does leave the other 50 plus schools that need help.”

State funding falls short of school facilities needs

Newark Public Schools enrolls roughly 42,000 pre-K-12 students in its 63 schools. Its buildings have been crumbling for decades, and state officials have been slow to address the needs . Since the state’s SDA was established over two decades ago, more than $760 million has been spent on renovation projects in Newark, the most of any school district in New Jersey.

Over the past three fiscal years, the SDA has provided approximately $6 million in funding to Newark Public Schools to address building upgrades — totaling $18 million — such as HVAC repairs or replacement, masonry, and roofing repairs, among other work. The district can direct the funds to facility improvement projects they deem most needed and identify and manage the work funded by the SDA, Maier said.

The SDA is currently working on repairs at Branch Brook School — formerly known as ECC North and set to reopen this fall — as well as Cleveland School, Technology, and University High Schools, according to Maier, the SDA’s director of communications. Last year, the state gave the district the former University Heights Charter School building to open the Nelson Mandela Elementary School. The agency is also working to build a new University High School.

In 2022, the SDA completed structural repairs at Shabazz High School and basement water infiltration at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. The price tag was more than $3.5 million. The state also rebuilt schools such as Science Park High School in 2006, Speedway Avenue Elementary School in 2010, and Elliot Street Elementary School in 2016.

District officials have said that a construction bond referendum would allow them to pay for all their facilities needs that can’t be funded through its $1.5 billion spending plan for the upcoming school year. For the 2024-25 school year, 82.3% of the district’s budget will come from state aid, 9.3% from city taxes, 7.7% from an excess fund balance, and 0.7% coming from other local and federal aid.

During June’s Newark school board meeting, members approved a resolution to submit an updated long-range facilities plan, cost analysis, and district-wide building needs assessments to the state. SDA officials will review the district’s facilities needs — such as which buildings need air conditioning and other renovations — as they wait for the legislature to provide additional funding for projects, León said during June’s meeting.

The resolution in June also allowed the board to take “initial steps” to authorize the board’s attorneys to preserve the chance to propose construction projects “to the voters via a bond referendum at a school district election.” There was no mention of placing a bond referendum in upcoming elections.

District leaders have stressed that state funds cover only a fraction of Newark’s facilities needs. And Newark’s relatively small tax base makes it harder for the district to rely on local property values and local funding to help pay for facilities projects.

The state allocated a record high $1.25 billion in aid for Newark for next school year but the district has historically been one of the most underfunded in New Jersey based on the state’s school funding formula. And state aid provided through the formula is not meant to pay for school construction or renovation projects.

Under New Jersey law, a local school board must give the city clerk and the county board of elections no less than a 60-day notice, in writing, of its intention to hold a special election. It may place construction proposals on the ballot during its annual school election in April for Newark.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org .