New Jersey’s SDA districts set to open in 'deplorable conditions.' What you need to know

When Abraham Lincoln School in Garfield reopens in September, students will cram into a building that was constructed 50 years after the 16th president was assassinated and is showing its age: a sagging roof, water damage from leaks in the mortar, no air conditioning.

It gets no better in some schools in Paterson, where the local teachers' union has reported mold, leaky ceilings and rodents.

But they do have running drinking water, which is more than can be said of at least half the schools in Jersey City.

Those schools are examples among dozens throughout New Jersey’s 31 so-called Schools Development Authority (SDA) districts that will fully reopen this school year in “deplorable conditions,” as the Education Law Center put it in legal filings.

Hot, overcrowded, poorly ventilated classrooms have become a way of life for students and teachers in these districts, which have been so down-at-the-heels that the Supreme Court ruled decades ago that the state is responsible for school repairs and replacement so students can get a “thorough and efficient” education.

But the law center contends the Murphy administration and legislative leaders have failed to keep their end of the bargain financially during the COVID-19 pandemic, even after being notified for years of the “urgent need” for repairs at schools to meet health and safety standards. 

Story continues below the gallery

And a political patronage scandal in the midst of those warnings not only derailed progress securing funding for new projects, but cast the future of the Schools Development Authority into doubt.

A state of disrepair

The Supreme Court may step in again and order the state to spend more, but some districts have already taken matters into their own hands by using federal relief funds for COVID-related upgrades, such as air purifiers and ventilation systems.

Still, many thousands of students will go back to school this year to buildings that have not improved since the pandemic began — or for many years before that.

Parents and advocates expressed concerns that children will suffer — academically, behaviorally and mentally — because of the poor conditions.

“I’m going to place the blame on the state. Not just for the city of Garfield, [but] for all these municipalities. It’s not fair to any of these kids that they have to be in schools like that,” said Richard Rigoglioso, principal of Garfield Middle School and that city’s mayor. “I’m worried that these schools aren’t up to health and safety standards.”

Gov. Phil Murphy has said that “our number one job is to keep our kids, our educators, everybody in the school community safe.”

But unlike last school year, when districts had to certify they met minimum health and safety standards, Murphy has issued “recommendations” for schools so they can fully reopen as he’s ordered. The Department of Education said the change is because Murphy lifted the COVID public health emergency.

Cleaning house to install family, associates:Questionable Murphy admin hires continue

Several dozen local teachers’ unions pushed back against a full reopening of schools last year because many of them were “not properly ventilated and simply cannot guarantee a healthy environment,” according to a letter to Murphy.

But the true extent of ventilation problems through all 600-plus school districts, not just the 31 SDA districts, is unknown because the Murphy administration has not done an assessment.

In a separate letter to Murphy and his health and education commissioners in June, the advocacy group Healthy Schools Now asked for a statewide assessment of ventilation systems, because students and staff in “many schools” are exposed to mold and other pollutants, triggering asthma attacks and absences due to illness.

“The fact that there are schools without HVAC systems in this state, lauded as number one for education in the nation, is completely unacceptable,” wrote organizer Heather Sorge and Debra Coyle McFadden of the NJ Work Environment Council.

Parents in Jersey City feel the same way. There, on the state’s Gold Coast waterfront, where the real estate market is among the hottest in New Jersey, at least half the schools don’t have running drinking water because of lead contamination.

Although local leadership is in the middle of a lead remediation plan, a group of parents puts some of the blame on the state for not acting sooner.  

“I look at what’s happening at the SDA right now … I think to myself, This is one reason why we don’t have [drinking] water in our schools: because the state is failing,” said Brigid D’Souza, a mother of two and a member of the advocacy group NJ Together.

Progress and problems at the SDA 

The Schools Development Authority has built and renovated hundreds of schools to fulfill its mandate set by the Supreme Court in a case brought decades ago by the Education Law Center known as Abbott v. Burke.

SDA districts now have some of the newest, most technologically advanced schools in the state, but the need for new and upgraded buildings is still high.

The last time the authority and the Department of Education created a list of “emergent projects,” in 2016, they identified “429 conditions in need of repair, including leaky roofs; crumbling facades; and inadequate heating, fire safety and other basic systems,” according to court documents.

Murphy’s choice to lead the authority in 2018, Lizette Delgado-Polanco, was charged with creating a new funding plan for the agency after the roughly $12 billion it had borrowed was either spent or earmarked for planned projects.

SDA:Schools Development Authority will be reorganized or moved under NJ control after scandal

That already costs taxpayers about $1 billion a year to repay, and they will bear the responsibility of paying back any new funding. 

A 2019 state assessment of school facilities showed that 15 of the 31 SDA districts had “deficient capacity” or provided fewer square feet per student than state Department of Education standards.  

The authority hasn’t put a price tag on all its needs, but spokeswoman Edythe Maier said a “rough order of magnitude” estimate just to address the 17,000 seats needed in those 15 districts is $1.6 billion. And that “only represents some of the facilities needs within the state,” she said.

On tours through the SDA districts, Delgado-Polanco told lawmakers, classrooms reached 80 degrees because windows could not open; students were taught beneath stairwells and bleachers because of a lack of space; and other schools didn’t meet science requirements because they lacked equipment.

The photos embedded above were taken between 2018 and 2021. If the embed above does not load, see photos here.

Some schools in SDA districts are between 125 and 150 years old; one, Lafayette School in Newark, was built in 1848, when James K. Polk was the 11th president. 

“These schools should not be schools,” Delgado-Polanco testified to legislative committee in April 2019. “They should be museums.”  

But Delgado-Polanco was forced to resign two weeks later, after the Trenton Bureau of the USA TODAY Network Atlantic Group chronicled improper hiring and management at the agency.

Her departure, without securing a new round of funding, threw the authority’s future into uncertainty.  

Murphy and legislative leaders recently agreed to reorganize the agency, but that has only raised more unanswered questions, none more critical than how soon the newest iteration will take on new projects.

Flush with cash, but little for SDA

The Murphy administration, in charge of a $10 billion surplus, argued to the Supreme Court that “the state cannot ‘secure funding’ overnight,” but an additional $275 million added to this year’s budget could help SDA districts.

Besides, state lawyers said, funding for new projects requires authorization from the Legislature.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Stephen Sweeney said through spokespeople that lawmakers have demonstrated their commitment to public education with “significant” funding for facilities, grants for drinking water improvements and using American Rescue Plan money to upgrade heating and air-conditioning systems.

“The speaker recognizes the construction need and is prepared to continue working towards a plan in anticipation of more additional funding being required,” said Cecilia Williams, a spokeswoman for Coughlin. “Ultimately, the Legislature will respond to any decision the Supreme Court makes as is appropriate.”

Richard McGrath, a spokesman for Sweeney, added that “every school district should have an assessment of its capital needs, so we will follow the proceedings of the Supreme Court closely.”

Even if the Supreme Court rules the state should pay more, it’s unknown how much is needed and how soon extra money would translate to action. That most likely means students and staff will have to deal with issues like poor ventilation and mold for some time.

Nearly $4.5 billion in federal COVID relief funds have helped in some SDA districts to address issues like heating and air conditioning, according to the Department of Education. But what’s been distributed is a fraction of the needs, educators said.

In Millville, for example, the district received $15 million but needs $48 million for its ventilation systems, Superintendent Tony Trongone said.

He does not expect the schools authority to carry that whole cost, but he is prohibited from borrowing money for schools.

“We are depending on the state and the SDA,” he said. “It’s leading to work not getting done. It’s leading to inefficient buildings. They’re safe, but they’re not up to optimal use.”

View the Garfield schools presentation below or click here.

Garfield Superintendent Ann Sciacca said the district is “exploring” the cost of air-conditioning options that could be covered by the federal relief money, and it has already replaced windows and bought mobile air-cleaning units for every classroom and office.

“It is frustrating to be so close yet so far since Garfield is at the top of the SDA list for two new elementary schools, but knowing that funding is not available for the SDA to comply with the law and provide our students with the education they deserve,” she said in a statement.

'Forgotten by the state'

In Jersey City, running drinking water is not the only problem affecting the health and safety of students.  

Some classrooms don’t have air conditioning, and boilers and roofs need replacement, according to parents and the school district, which is suing the state over funding cuts in a separate legal battle.

"When we have to choose between replacing boilers to have heat in the winter months and have air conditioning, we have to choose to replace boilers because we can’t operate our buildings without heat. There are too many winter months," Deputy Superintendent Norma Fernandez said. 

New Jersey:$1 billion in taxpayer money has purchased schools — and scandal

Nancy Pokler, a mother of two Jersey City schoolchildren, said the conditions of schools reflect a split reality in the state’s second-largest city. New developments are “everywhere,” and the banking giant Goldman Sachs has made its headquarters there, but schools don’t have running drinking water.

“The only explanation to me is that Jersey City schools have been carved out of the progress of Jersey City. They’ve been left behind by Jersey City, and they’ve been forgotten by the state,” she said.

In Paterson, where 17 schools are more than 100 years old, the district has fixed some of its ventilation problems and has requested federal funds to do more work.

The district has also installed air purifiers "in every occupied space," is "vigorously working" to keep its buildings clean and has an "effective pest-control program," and mold issues "are dealt with swiftly and effectively," spokesman Paul Brubaker said. 

Rosie Grant, executive director of the Paterson Education Fund, credited the school district for doing what it can in the pandemic. But it’s the responsibility of the state to address health and safety issues and the fact that they persist “points to how we live in New Jersey,” she contended.

“We’re segregated, and we excuse things for people who don’t make as much money that we would never stand for in a suburban community,” Grant said.

“So I think there’s a systemic issue that has to be addressed, but, at minimum, we should do that for our children and the adults who serve them in our schools. It’s all our responsibility.”

Dustin Racioppi is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to his work covering New Jersey’s governor and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: racioppi@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @dracioppi