A small crowd of approximately 15 residents attended Union City’s Planning Board meeting at the Roosevelt School Tuesday, where school expansion was the main topic of conversation.
The five members of the Union City Planning Board listened to a presentation made by Joe Higgins, a representative of the state’s Economic Development Agency, and Jerry Caputo, a Union City school administrator. The presentation focused on a “master plan” for the future of school development in Union City.
According to Caputo, “multiple site visitations [in Union City] were made with various officials” as far back as 1999. Eight potential sites in Union City were approved by the state Department of Education for new schools or facilities.
Some of the sites include the 2200 block of Kennedy Boulevard, the site of the old Schlemn building, which was a funeral home. It is now a vacant lot. This project, according to Caputo, would eventually become an early childhood center featuring 24 classrooms housing approximately 240 students.
Another proposed site is the 35th and 36th Street parking areas. It will remain to be seen what the reaction is from merchants if these lots are approved for school expansion.
A site at Kennedy Boulevard between Fifth and Sixth avenues was discussed as the potential site of a “magnet school.”
According to the Magnet School web site (www.magnet.edu), “Magnet schools are based on the premise that all students do not learn in the same ways, that if we find a unifying theme or a different organizational structure for students of similar interest, those students will learn more in all areas. In other words, if a magnet school voluntarily attracts students and teachers, it will succeed because, more than for any other reason, those in attendance want to be there.”
Classes in a stadium?
Two interesting sites were proposed, places that might seem unusual for education, but could actually go a long way toward alleviating the overcrowding that exists in most Union City schools.
One is an idea to build a new high school within the Roosevelt Stadium building. The proposal called for the current stadium to remain standing but to build a new facility within its wall and most likely place a playing field on the top of the new building. The board seemed intrigued by this idea.
Another proposed idea is to build a school in the Lincoln Tunnel area. Details were sketchy on exactly how or where this would work, but according to Caputo, “Superintendent of Schools Tom Highton likes the idea.”
A major point of all these proposed developments according to Caputo, is that the state requires that all new school construction projects make room for “staff parking” on premises.
According to state Economic Development Authority representative and New Jersey School Construction Association member Joe Higgins, “the reason we’re here is that we’ve started doing a ‘feasibility study’ on schools in this area.” Higgins stated that there is a “15 point checklist” that the state requires be adhered to. According to Higgins, “14 of the 15 points have to do with statistical analysis” and that he has “no doubt that the Schlemn site [at 2200 Kennedy Boulevard] will be deemed acceptable for development.”
At this point, Higgins commented on something that was being whispered about among the gathered crowd: what happens to he people who happen to live in homes on the sites slated for school development?
According to Higgins, “If the site is occupied, there are strict state and federal regulations that govern acquisition. We’re very sensitive to the [possibly displaced] people’s needs and concerns.” Obviously, this will be a major issue at some point, one sure to rankle many residents.
Caputo commented that “school population has increased incredibly from 1998. In 1998, Union City had approximately 9,000 students. In 2002, we’re looking at 12,000 with no school expansion in that time. These kids are all crammed into these schools.” Caputo added that the schools “will be ‘state of the art’ and include community centers and libraries.”