Documents Show How State Helped Newark Buy School Building Despite “Zero Need”

When University Heights Charter School closed in 2022, its 34,000 square foot property between Hartford and New Streets in the Central Ward was highly coveted in a city where available school buildings are in short supply.

Several charter schools were interested in purchasing the building, but so was the Newark School District, which worked behind the scenes with the state Schools Development Authority (SDA) to acquire the building — despite Newark’s low position on the SDA’s ranking of overcrowded districts.

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Documents show that the SDA appraised the property for $8.5 million in September of 2022, and the next month, it submitted an offer to purchase the property for $8.5 million. However, records show that the SDA ended up paying $15.5 million for the building and granted the facility to the Newark Board of Education for $1 — even though Newark was considered to have “zero need” at the time for new seats because so many seats in schools throughout the city are empty.

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Emails obtained through the Open Public Records Act between Newark district officials and the head of the SDA in the months before the purchase showed how concerned the district was about a charter school acquiring the building.

In February 2023, Newark’s School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson reached out to SDA CEO Manuel Da Silva in an email and said she was facing a "real nightmare." Wilson told him that North Star Academy Charter School had just won approval to expand by more than 600 seats. (North Star’s approval was actually for about 450 seats)

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"Wow, that's a significant increase," Da Silva responded back.

The race to purchase the building was set in motion in June of 2022, when the state Department of Education shut the former University Heights charter school down for poor performance. The building was put up for sale in a market open to any potential buyer.

Documents show that the SDA took special steps to ensure that the building ended up in the school district’s hands, not any of the charter schools that were bidding for it. The SDA is a government agency paid for with tax dollars whose role is to build schools in the most under-resourced cities. Because its resources are limited, it prioritizes funding and resources for the most overcrowded school systems in the state.

According to its April 2022 strategic plan, Newark is at the bottom of the overcrowding list at only 1.1% overcrowded – or 455 seats needed in grade levels 6-8. By contrast, Elizabeth, N.J., is number one on the list, with a need of 7,500 seats and 37% overcrowding in all grades from Pre-K to 12th.

Indeed, in a recent state Assembly Budget Hearing, Da Silva testified that in the eyes of the SDA, because there were so many empty seats in the city’s school system, Newark showed “zero need from a capacity needs perspective” for new schools.

Christina Moreira, president of the Elizabeth Parents and Students Care Group, said school libraries in Elizabeth have been converted into classrooms and some buildings are using cafeterias for art and music classes.

“We just had a parent circulate a petition to designate a music room at Jerome Dunn Academy because students and staff are holding practices in the hallway,” Moreira said. “The school district is leasing 11 former Catholic schools and using about 70 trailers to teach our students, not to mention all the older schools we still have with no air conditioning.”

Despite Newark’s low position in the overcrowding list, in August of 2022, the documents show that the SDA sent a letter to University Heights to let them know that the agency is a “prospective Condemnor of the Property” for use as a Newark district school. In the same month, the SDA’s board approved a resolution to acquire the building for up to $20 million.

University Heights’ attorney, according to emails obtained through OPRA, pushed back on the SDA’s attempt to take the property outside of the normal bidding process.

“We are concerned that the NJSDA may be using its power of eminent domain to advantage the Newark Board of Education over other bidders who intend to use the property for a charter school or other public use,” wrote the attorney, Tom Johnston.

Johnston noted that according to the SDA’s own strategic plan that Newark public schools “does not have the capacity needs that justify the acquisition of the property nor the exercise of condemnation powers.”

Documents suggest that the SDA ultimately became a bidder along with other prospective buyers and SDA CEO Da Silva personally wrote several emails to the broker in the transaction attempting to move the process along.

TAPinto Newark didn’t receive any documents or emails between October 31, 2022, and February of 2023.

On February 2, 2023, North Star Academy Charter School was approved by the state DOE to expand by 450 seats, despite the objection of Superintendent Roger Leon. The DOE cited North Star’s high academic achievement results for its approval to expand to serve more Newark students.

Four days later, School Business Administrator Wilson emailed SDA CEO Da Silva and the following exchange ensued:

Wilson: “Any update on the property?”

Da Silva: “We have not finalized the price however I'm optimistic we can do that next. ..I’m hopeful we can get this finalized in the next couple of days.”

Wilson: “Great. It is becoming kind of concerning as North Star just received an increase in enrollment of 600+ seats.”

DaSilva: “Wow that’s a significant increase. What is the school’s capacity?”

Wilson: “Not sure. They got the increase thru 25-26. This is a real nightmare.”

Two weeks later, Da Silva wrote to the school district’s general counsel: “I hope you had a good weekend, and let me start by saying congratulations!. As discussed this morning, with some coordinated effort this week, you will be the owner of a new school building by week’s end."

According to Newark public schools’ spokesperson Nancy Deering, suggesting that the email exchange between Wilson and Da Silva was an attempt to keep the building from North Star is “absolutely incorrect.” She did not offer a further explanation as to what Wilson meant by “nightmare.”

In September 2023, the school district opened the building as the Nelson Mandela School. At the time of the opening, district officials said 160 students were enrolled. The school opened with grades Kindergarten through third grade, with plans to expand through grade eight in the coming years.

In an email to TAPinto Newark, the SDA said it “pursued the purchase of the facility because it was determined that the school could partially and significantly address District needs and offer a cost-effective and expeditious solution.”

Regarding the email exchange between Da Silva and Wilson, the SDA said “there is no additional context to add. The SDA obtained the facility in order to deliver a school facility that meets the District’s identified needs in an expeditious manner.”

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