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New Jersey’s Abbott Schools Program Still Evoloving

New Jersey's drive since 2000 to update its decaying public schools has been an ambitious drive tainted, however, by financial scandal that left many planned projects unfinished. Seven years later, the Abbott Schools program is more ambitious than ever, but despite austere cost-cutting and restructuring, the revised program still requires billions more dollars to truly succeed.

Following a 1998 New Jersey Supreme Court Decision, the State of New Jersey was deemed responsible for 100 % of construction and renovation in special-needs districts. By 2002, the 31 districts, known as the Abbots, were authorized for $6 billion to be overseen by  the newly-formed New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation, under the state's Economic Development Agency. An additional $2.5 billion were approved for Regular Operating Districts (RODs), eligible for 40 % state funding.

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The SCC was marred by fiscal misuse which culminated with the 2005 announcement that the agency would not be able to pay for half of its proposed projects because the entire $8.6 billion allocation has been spent or committed. Out of the 59 projects in its 2005 plan, 27 had to be deferred as the agency underwent restructuring and review by the Office of Inspector General. Governor Jon Corzine finally dissolved the SCC last August, replacing it with the Schools Development Authority. The name change also meant a break from the Economic Development Authority, of which SCC was previously a subsidiary. In addition, the agency's management was overhauled and the board of directors was expanded. Scott Weiner, a former Department of Environmental Protection commissioner and special counsel to the SCC, was voted by the board for the post of chief executive officer.

Last year's legislation also included greater flexibility in the agency's land acquisition, to prevent property value escalation by speculators, as well as a requirement for the Abbott districts themselves to come up with inventory of available publicly-owned land. The districts themselves are now being given more and more freedom in the way the projects are designed and constructed, with SDA acting only to assist construction with funding.

Costs Of Construction

New Jersey's construction costs, according to McGraw-Hill's 2007 Dodge reports, are considerably higher than the nation's average: $290 per sq ft, vs. $143 for elementary schools and a whopping $486 per sq ft vs. $169 for high schools. The report, however, includes both private and public schools. A separate report by Saylor Publications, however, which equalizes for price across districts, found the average price of SDA-managed projects to be $278 per sq ft for elementary schools and $287 for high schools. However, the SDA anticipates a rise in construction costs due to the region's overall high demand for materials and labor.

To prevent cost overruns, the SDA no longer bids out incomplete designs and has started forecasting project budgets, while the board can now make recommendations prior to the bidding out of projects. Along with the DOE, SDA now also sets in place a state-wide prioritization plan. Further changes are planned as well, including a process that will also involve the Department of Education which will allow the Abbott districts to manage their own construction projects where possible, and the cap of $500,000 on such projects has been removed.

"From the first five-year cycle, we have learned that we must find ways to overcome unexpected challenges in locating school sites, particularly in highly developed urban neighborhoods, where the land is still affordable and free of environmental hazards," says Bernard E. Piaia, Jr., director of the Office of Facilities for DOE in an email. "Another administrative cost to factor in is for the use of “swing space” to temporarily house students while projects are in progress.  Swing space is especially important in urban districts where existing schools must be completely torn down and rebuilt."

According to the DOE, the Abbott districts under the SCC/SDA program have constructed 40 new schools, and completed 57 major additions and renovations, and 354 health, safety and other projects.

New Directions

When the Abbott schools program started, provisions were made for so-called demonstration projects, which were large schools in the tens of millions of dollars designed to integrate the school's educational and meeting facilities into the fabric of existing communities, as past of the Smart Growth strategy. A total of six projects, which the SDA is now completing in Camden, Trenton, and New Brunswick, incorporated community access to the schools.

Now, however, this strategy is becoming the status-quo, according to Kevin McElroy, spokesperson for the SDA. The local community in many cases will have access to the school's sport venues, performance and meeting space, particularly geared toward non-profits, and even the schools' libraries.

By this fall, the SDA is slated to open 18 more projects in the Abbott districts eight in the North, one in the Central, and three in the South regions, all being completed under the Capital Deferral Plan put in place to address a $670 million in the 2005 Capital Plan. Under the plan, funding is provided for the complete construction of 32 of the 59 projects, while 27 projects being deferred will still receive funding through the completion of bid documents, which includes work up to property acquisition, tenant relocation, land remediation and design. In addition, $157 million of the $674 million Deferral Plan, and an additional $2 million resulting from operational efficiencies and project bids below cost, has been slated for dealing with emergent conditions in health and safety projects.

Funding continues to be an issue. A 2006 report by the DOE and the SCC has estimated the need in Abbott districts at $13 billion. The agency's Long Range Facilities Plans review, slated to be completed later this year once all of the Abbott districts submit their reports, is likely to raise it, according to the SDA. The Governor’s Interagency Working Group on School Construction has recommended $2.5 for twp to three years worth of work in the Abbots, and $750 million for RODs, after which the SDA would have to return to the Legislature for additional funding.  billion. Following SDA's bi-annual report released in December, It is now up to the state legislature to approve this funding.

New Strategies

In addition to revamping the agency's management and oversight structure, SDA now puts an increasing emphasis on cost forecasting. A full-time crew of staffers estimates not only inflation but costs of materials and developments in the labor and project management market. "We're doing that much more accurately and thoroughly now," says Daniel Millen, director of architecture and engineering with SDA, "and our results are much better than years ago."

Furthermore, SDA is now considering alternative methods of financing, including public-private partnerships such as those already planned in Manhattan and Brooklyn which incorporate a residential or commercial component and a school into high-rises. Another possible area of expansion, says Millen, is design-build, particularly following the successful completion of the Summerfield Elementary School in Neptune township, a certified LEED-Gold design-built project that resulted in only one change order. The new 550-student school incorporates a "farm-themed" design and includes a garden in addition to regular school facilities, as well as an outside amphitheater. According to Walker, the construction on this school was accelerated 75 % as a result of the design-build method, completing within 22 months from design to construction instead of the standard 34 to 27 months. The school was completed in 2006.

Highlighted Demonstration Projects

In August, SDA completed the $72.7 million Catto Community School demonstration project, a 122,720-sq-ft pre-K through 6th school for 540 students. In addition, the Boys and Girls Club of Camden financed a 24,600-sq-ft incorporated into the school, complete with a 7,000-sq-ft swimming pool and other athletic and educational amenities. The school will use the club during school hours. Hillier Architects of New York designed the school, with Keating Buiding Corp. managing construction. In conjunction with the project, and in exchange of construction of the project on part of a park, the city will build a 14-acre park, as well as a new bike path linking the school with the new park.

In April, the agency started work on the 366,500-sq-ft New Union City High School and Athletic Complex on the site of an old stadium, which was shared by several schools and the surrounding community. To compensate for the loss, the school's new design by a joint venture of Rivardo, Schnitzer, Capazzi of Cliffside Park, N.J., and HOK of New York,  incorporates a new athletic field on top of a two-story structure adjoining the main four-story school building. Separate pedestrian ramps will allow for community access outside of school hours.