Despite a major retooling and policy changes at the state’s School Construction Corporation, Hoboken Board of Education officials said Wednesday that, while cautious, they believe that Hoboken is still on track for millions of dollars toward new school construction, including a new high school and elementary school.
SCC cost overruns, slow progress
In July of 2002, then-Gov. James McGreevey created the New Jersey Schools SCC, a new subsidiary corporation of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. It has been delegated all the responsibilities for instituting the New Jersey Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act.
The goal of that act was to invest $8.6 billion in public school construction in New Jersey over the next decade, including full funding by the state of school renovation and construction projects in 31 “special needs” urban school districts, known as the Abbott school districts, of which Hoboken is one.
But now the SCC has become a black hole for taxpayer dollars, with massive cost overruns, slow progress and little oversight, according to several recent reports.
Articles spurred investigation
One of biggest signs that something was wrong was in Feburary when the Newark Star-Ledger published a damning exposé showing that schools being built in the suburbs were costing 45 percent less, on average, than those in districts where the SCC oversees construction.
Shortly after that story ran, State Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper, at the urging of acting Gov. Richard Codey, began an investigation into the organizational structure of the SCC. While she worked on her report, the agency stopped awarding new contracts in March and slowed the approval of construction.
Lax accountability
On April 21, Cooper issued a report that stated the SCC has mismanaged its funding and lacked proper financial controls to effectively carry out its mission.
In her report, Cooper identified the primary areas in need of immediate improvement – weak internal management and financial controls, and “lax and/or nonexistent oversight and accountability.”
Less than a week after her report blasted the state agency’s practices, Codey ordered changes in the SCC.
Al Koeppe, the former Public Service Electric & Gas chairman, was brought in to retool the program. Under Codey’s executive order, the agency will add four members of the public to its board and get a chief financial officer.
On May 13, Peter Maricondo, who previously served as the vice president/controller and chief accounting officer of NUI Corp., was named as CFO of SCC.
Last week, the SCC suspended efforts to scout sites for new schools, saying it will not have the money to build projects that are not under way by Dec. 10.
Currently, dozens of school projects around Hudson County and the state are on hold, but Koeppe told the Ledger that he is working to make sure projects scheduled for construction can begin without too many more major delays.
What about Hoboken?
State Sen. Bernard Kenny recently said that he has been assured by state Education Commissioner William L. Librera that Hoboken is well along with its projects and will receive 100 percent funding for school construction and renovation.
Besides the schools, Hoboken’s most current plans also call for the construction of athletic fields on a six-acre piece of property near the now-vacant former Cognis Chemical plant on 12th Street from Adams to Madison streets.
The proposed new high school would be built in the city’s northwest section. It will include 32 classrooms, a gymnasium, music room, science labs, an auditorium, a cafeteria, media center, wood shop, horticulture lab, planetarium, ITV lab, daycare, a technology lab and administrative offices. The new 151,886-square-foot high school project will have a student capacity of 852 and will also include a new athletic field complex, according to SCC officials.
The new elementary school, built nearby, will include 36 classrooms, a gymnasium, an art/music room, a cafeteria, stage, media center, horticulture lab, computer room and administrative offices. The 85,015-square-foot facility will have a student capacity of 572.
These two projects are currently in design, with a projected construction starting date in the second quarter in 2006.
The six existing school buildings in Hoboken will be rehabilitated, except for the Demarest Middle School on Garden Street, which will be converted to some other public use.
According to the SCC’s Web site, the SCC has already spent $39.3 million in design fees and construction contracts, and Hoboken’s projected share could still be as much at $205 million, in total, for the construction and renovation of the city’s school buildings.
“We’re keeping a close eye on the situation, but we are still optimistic that projects will go forward,” said Tim Calligy; the Board of Education’s acting board secretary Wednesday. Calligy said that Hoboken is well beyond the “feasibility portion of acquisition” and is now conducting environmental surveys and the pre-design of the Cognis property. “Sure, there have been delays, but from what we have been told, the plan is still a go,” said Calligy.