Education Law Center’s latest Abbott School Construction Program status reports (projects completed, projects under construction, and 52 Projects – NJSDA’s 2008 Capital Plan analyze data from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (NJSDA), the Department of Education (DOE), and the Abbott districts.

80 projects have been completed by the State under the Schools Construction Corporation (NJSCC) and/or NJSDA. (NJSCC was reorganized by the Governor in July 2007 and is now NJSDA). 18 projects are now under construction by NJSDA.

The NJ Legislature’s approval and the Governor’s signature (July 2008) on legislation authorizing $3.9 billion in bond financing for a "second wave" of school construction was long overdue. $2.9 million of this funding package will fund Abbott projects and will help replace some of the dilapidated and outmoded school facilities in these communities and restart many projects on hold since 2005. The additional $1 billion of new funding will be given out as project grants to non-Abbott districts (sometimes called Regular Operating Districts or RODs) and vocational schools.

In August 2008, the NJSDA issued the list of 52 Abbott projects to be completed with the new funding. Non-Abbott projects will be subject to a needs-based prioritization process established by the DOE. The first round of non-Abbott projects will be approved early in 2009.

Key background information for school facilities project status:

• In the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, Abbott districts were designated as SDA districts.
• In early 2005, Acting Governor Codey ordered the Inspector General to review the fiscal status of NJSCC. The IG’s subsequent April 2005 report highlighted serious management and financial problems. All new contracts and change orders were put on hold.
• NJSCC announced in July 2005 that 59 Abbott Projects would be completed with the funds available at that time. These projects were considered part of the "2005 Capital Plan."
• Due to lack of funds, the 2005 Capital Plan was revised in April 2007 and only 32 projects were scheduled for completion. Bid documents were to be completed for the remaining 27, but construction was placed on hold. With the new 2008 funding allocation, the remaining projects from the original Capital Plan will be constructed as part of the 2008 Capital Plan.
• Other projects placed on hold by order of the IG in 2005 due to lack of funds remained stalled. This process was accomplished by suspending some architectural and engineering contracts. These projects were frequently cited as the "list of 97". Some of the projects on the list were incorrect or, in the interim, have been changed. ELC made the necessary corrections to the list of 97 called "Projects outside of the 2005 Capital Plan" and added the estimate of expenditures on those projects at that time. The 2008 status of those projects is noted in the Comments column.
• In summary, the 52 newly funded projects in the 2008 Capital Plan include projects from the original NJSCC 2005 Capital Plan and additional projects from Abbott districts priority lists drawn up as part of the Long Range Facilities Plans. Many of the priority projects on the districts’ lists have been on hold since 2005 and were in the list of "Projects outside the 2005 Capital Plan".
• NJSDA has announced that the health and safety work needed to maintain current buildings will also proceed as a result of the new 2008 funding allocation.

Note: Since the establishment of the school construction program, obtaining comprehensive, accurate information from the NJSDA and DOE on project development has been very difficult. NJSDA now has their list of completed projects and projects under construction available on the main page of their website. Some discrepancies continue to exist between reports issued by these two agencies and ELC’s district surveys.

The identification of a school facility "project" by SDA accounts for the major difference. The 2000 Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act (EFCFA) does not distinguish between the type and scope of projects. ELC and DOE consider a school facility project to be all work associated with the design and construction of either an entirely new building, an addition to a school building, a conversion of a building not previously used as a school, or a substantial renovation of an existing school facility resulting in the creation of instructional spaces. NJSDA customarily uses the term "project" to describe discrete scopes of work as defined by the terms of a contract. The result is that NJSDA designated projects may be a component or phase of a larger project, a facility serving multiple schools, or simply a repair to an existing facility (health and safety project).