Gloucester City School District to Receive Funding for repairs
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Media Release
The New Jersey Schools Development Authority
(SDA) and the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) are implementing the
next phase of a joint initiative to address projects in more than 100 schools
requiring immediate repair in the state’s special-needs districts.
The Gloucester City Board of Education was
pleased upon learning that Gloucester City School District will receive funds
for three projects.
The districts were given instruction to evaluate
all their facilities for potential emergent conditions (health-and-safety type
conditions requiring immediate action) and provide the information to DOE.
Site visits involving the DOE, SDA, the Department
of Community Affairs and school district officials were then conducted. The
site-visit teams reviewed potential emergency conditions at 250 schools identified
by the districts.
After the teams conducted site visits, DOE
developed a list of 137 emergent conditions to be addressed at 114 schools. The
Gloucester City projects that were funded included:
- Cold Springs
School Play Area Settlement (at the Early Childhood Center).
- Gloucester City HS Classroom Light Fixtures.
- Mary Ethel Costello Roofing (on the Ridgeway side of the building).
The Board and administration continue to work with the DOE and the SDA,
not only on these three projects, but also on the building of the new middle
school on Market Street.
Hard work by the administration, the Board of Education and local government
officials resulted in Gloucester City receiving the good news that they are among
the projects scheduled for the next round of school construction, as
approved in the 2008 New Funding Allocation and Capital Plan for SDA Districts.
The plan identifies 53 projects to be funded
for construction with additional funds, including 26 new school projects.
Twenty-seven projects that had been deferred in April 2007 due to a funding
shortfall also will proceed. Gloucester City Middle School had been one of
those projects.
More updates will come, once completion of the three projects comes to fruition and more defined timelines for the new school are revealed.