The Christie Administration today announced the approval of
$507.7 million in state funds to help fund the cost of 1,538 individual school
construction projects in 331 school districts throughout the state. Of the
state funding, $32.9 million will go to support 103 projects in 11 school
districts in Union County, supporting a total of $74.6 million in school
construction throughout the county.
“Union County students, teachers and school administrators
will benefit from this infusion of more than half a billion dollars in state
funding,” said Governor Christie. “These grants will allow for efficient,
state-of-the-art school facilities that will help foster an improved learning
environment for our children.”
“We’re pleased to announce this funding to districts to
assist in the cost of local construction,” added Department of Education (DOE)
Commissioner Chris Cerf. “This state and local partnership will go a long way
in making sure that Union County students have safe, modern facilities for
learning.”
“This funding builds upon the Administration’s continued
commitment to the future of Union County’s schoolchildren,” said School
Development Authority (SDA) Chief Executive Officer Marc Larkins. “SDA has
already executed 918 regular operating grants improving 553 facilities across
240 school districts under Governor Christie’s leadership alone. Continuing
this effort with this state support will assist in our goal of providing
students with a safe and healthy learning environment.”
Between state and local contributions, the total project
costs of the 1,538 eligible projects are estimated to exceed $1.1 billion. The
state-funded grants represent at least 40 percent of eligible costs for
projects in the Regular Operating Districts (RODs) and address health and
safety issues, student overcrowding and other critical needs. The grants are
contingent on local approval of the remaining cost to school districts. Regular
Operating District grants are separate from the funding for the 31 “SDA
districts,” where the Schools Development Authority is responsible for
financing 100 percent of eligible costs.
The Department of Education determines the selection of
school projects receiving grant funds, which are administered by the Schools
Development Authority (SDA). In September, the state Department of Education
(DOE) received applications for more than 2,100 individual school projects.
The DOE categorizes applications into three tiers, with
Level 1 being the highest priority based on critical building upgrades, roof
and window repairs, code issues, ADA upgrades, security systems and hazardous
material abatement.
The funding announced today addresses all Level 1 school
facilities needs for all school districts in the state that submitted projects.
Statewide Summary of 2013 ROD grants
Districts - 331
Projects - 1,538
Total Cost of Projects
$1,149,228,796
State Share
$507,762,444
The statewide summary includes $21.8 million in state grants
to assist 15 vocational-technical school districts with 54 construction
projects for $48.2 million in total construction.
ROD grants are separate from the funding for the 31 “SDA
districts,” where the SDA is responsible for financing 100 percent of eligible
costs.
In July 2008, the Legislature authorized an additional $3.9
billion in bonds to finance the state’s share of school facilities projects.
There have been three funding allocations since 2008; the most recent was the
announcement of $270 million in ROD grants in July 2010.
The DOE determines which school projects receive grant funds
from the SDA. The authority’s current portfolio of active projects is valued at
nearly $2 billion – including the 2011 and 2012 Capital Project portfolios
(more than $1 billion), additional projects in construction ($55 million),
emergent projects ($100 million) and ROD grants ($500 million state share).
Union County:
Projects - 103
Districts - 11
Total cost
$74,590,932
State share
$32,926,593
Berkeley Heights
Total Project Cost $5,748,625
State Share of Cost $2,299,450
Clark Township
Total Project Cost $1,293,909
State Share of Cost $517,564
Hillside
Total Project Cost $3,213,075
State Share of Cost $1,757,436
Mountainside
Total Project Cost $14,705,869
State Share of Cost $5,882,348
Rahway
Total Project Cost $507,000
State Share of Cost $232,466
Roselle Borough
Total Project Cost $13,357,426
State Share of Cost $7,931,319
Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Total Project Cost $5,399,739
State Share of Cost $2,159,896
Springfield
Total Project Cost $3,104,915
State Share of Cost $1,241,966
Summit
Total Project Cost $5,365,588
State Share of Cost $2,146,235
Union Township
Total Project Cost $3,079,010
State Share of Cost $1,231,604
Westfield
Total Project Cost $18,815,776
State Share of Cost $7,526,310
For additional county information of the recent round of ROD
grants, contact the DOE Communications Office at 609-292-1126.
Source: NJ.com
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