Sunday, September 21, 2008
Two years ago the Elliott Street School community was devastated when a lightening bolt sparked a fire that nearly destroyed the Newark building.
Without a school to return to in the fall of 2006, students were split up and now commute to three different buildings, one located in nearby Belleville.
Work has begun to replace the old smoke-damaged Elliott Street School with a brand new $48 million model, state construction officials said.
Workers are tearing down the building -- slowly because of asbestos concerns -- and demolition should be complete this fall, said Kevin McElroy, a spokesman for the School Development Authority, the state agency responsible for building schools in the states poorest districts.
So far, roughly a third of the building has been razed and a pile of rubble sits along the Grafton Avenue side of the school. The demolition team will also tackle 17 nearby homes purchased to increase the size of the new school, McElroy said.
Construction is expected to start in March 2009 and should wrap up by January 2011, he said. Architectural plans that were supposed to be used on another school were modified and will be used for the Elliott Street project.
School officials have long complained of overcrowding in the citys North Ward so it will be good to have the school up and running again, said Steve Morlino, executive director of facilities management.
It will be a relief for everybody because right now the school is fragmented all over the place, Morlino said. Its supposed to be a community school and thats not working right now.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Five New Jersey school construction projects — including one to replace a Newark building destroyed by lightning — have been delayed for months because of a fight between the state and a contractors group about the bidding process.
The state Schools Development Authority said it can cut costs and speed up projects by combining the design and construction phases, but the Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey said the process would be unfair to small contractors and would ultimately cost taxpayers more.
The authority wanted to test the process on five of the 25 of school projects it has planned for construction or pre-construction this year, including Newark’s Elliott Street School, which burned after a lightning strike in 2006. The school’s 680 students have been split among three other schools.
The other schools affected by the fight are the Redshaw Elementary School in New Brunswick, the Lorraine Place Elementary School in Keansburg, Jersey City Elementary School No. 3 and Jersey City Early Childhood Center No. 3.
The association sued in April and the state Appellate Division the following month ordered the state to stop work on the $40 million Elliott Street School. The two sides delivered arguments today before an appellate court panel, but it could be months before the judges return a decision.
The problems date back to the old Schools Construction Corp., the troubled state agency that oversaw school building projects. Investigations by the state Inspector General and state Auditor found the corporation had mismanaged and wasted millions of dollars. The agency failed to complete an order by the state Supreme Court to repair or replace aging schools in New Jersey’s 31 poorest districts under terms of the landmark Abbott vs. Burke school funding lawsuit.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
In 2007, the Legislature abolished the Schools Construction Corp. and replaced it with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a reformed authority with expanded measures to control costs. But criticism of the program continued and Christie ordered a review.
The turmoil in Trenton, coupled with Christie’s proposed school funding cuts, has left many educators unsure what to say to students and teachers awaiting new schools.
At Redshaw Elementary in New Brunswick, about 10 teachers have quit since the school moved to its temporary warehouse location from its now-demolished original home in a bustling residential neighborhood. Randall Miller, a fourth-grade teacher, said he has stuck it out though his warehouse classroom lacks windows and a sense of permanency.
"Just the idea of knowing it’s not really a school," Miller said.
At Elliott Street School in Newark, children constantly ask when their new school is coming.
"We have no answers for them," said Esther Diaz, the school’s literacy coach.
Lightning struck the school in 2006. Since then, Elliott Street’s 473 pupils have been split into three groups housed in leased locations more than a mile apart. The principal shuttles between the three temporary schools every day.
Emma Nunez, a fourth-grade teacher, noted proudly that Elliott Street’s students have met minimum annual benchmarks on federally standardized tests.
"We’ve succeeded so far," Nunez said. "But imagine the possibilities if we were all in the same school."
August 31, 2011
The situation at Elliot Street is another story. After the lightning-sparked fire rendered that building unusable in 2006, the school district has been using insurance payments to lease three nearby buildings for the past five years, Morlino said.
But the insurance company has refused to make any additional lease payments, so this September, Elliot Street students will be attending classes at the old 1st Avenue School, Morlino said. That's almost two miles away from the old Elliot Street site. As a result, Newark Public Schools will bus the students back and forth each day between a gathering point near the old Elliot Street School and the 1st Avenue site.
Two years ago the Elliott Street School community was devastated when a lightening bolt sparked a fire that nearly destroyed the Newark building.
Without a school to return to in the fall of 2006, students were split up and now commute to three different buildings, one located in nearby Belleville.
Work has begun to replace the old smoke-damaged Elliott Street School with a brand new $48 million model, state construction officials said.
Workers are tearing down the building -- slowly because of asbestos concerns -- and demolition should be complete this fall, said Kevin McElroy, a spokesman for the School Development Authority, the state agency responsible for building schools in the states poorest districts.
So far, roughly a third of the building has been razed and a pile of rubble sits along the Grafton Avenue side of the school. The demolition team will also tackle 17 nearby homes purchased to increase the size of the new school, McElroy said.
Construction is expected to start in March 2009 and should wrap up by January 2011, he said. Architectural plans that were supposed to be used on another school were modified and will be used for the Elliott Street project.
School officials have long complained of overcrowding in the citys North Ward so it will be good to have the school up and running again, said Steve Morlino, executive director of facilities management.
It will be a relief for everybody because right now the school is fragmented all over the place, Morlino said. Its supposed to be a community school and thats not working right now.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Five New Jersey school construction projects — including one to replace a Newark building destroyed by lightning — have been delayed for months because of a fight between the state and a contractors group about the bidding process.
The state Schools Development Authority said it can cut costs and speed up projects by combining the design and construction phases, but the Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey said the process would be unfair to small contractors and would ultimately cost taxpayers more.
The authority wanted to test the process on five of the 25 of school projects it has planned for construction or pre-construction this year, including Newark’s Elliott Street School, which burned after a lightning strike in 2006. The school’s 680 students have been split among three other schools.
The other schools affected by the fight are the Redshaw Elementary School in New Brunswick, the Lorraine Place Elementary School in Keansburg, Jersey City Elementary School No. 3 and Jersey City Early Childhood Center No. 3.
The association sued in April and the state Appellate Division the following month ordered the state to stop work on the $40 million Elliott Street School. The two sides delivered arguments today before an appellate court panel, but it could be months before the judges return a decision.
The problems date back to the old Schools Construction Corp., the troubled state agency that oversaw school building projects. Investigations by the state Inspector General and state Auditor found the corporation had mismanaged and wasted millions of dollars. The agency failed to complete an order by the state Supreme Court to repair or replace aging schools in New Jersey’s 31 poorest districts under terms of the landmark Abbott vs. Burke school funding lawsuit.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
In 2007, the Legislature abolished the Schools Construction Corp. and replaced it with the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a reformed authority with expanded measures to control costs. But criticism of the program continued and Christie ordered a review.
The turmoil in Trenton, coupled with Christie’s proposed school funding cuts, has left many educators unsure what to say to students and teachers awaiting new schools.
At Redshaw Elementary in New Brunswick, about 10 teachers have quit since the school moved to its temporary warehouse location from its now-demolished original home in a bustling residential neighborhood. Randall Miller, a fourth-grade teacher, said he has stuck it out though his warehouse classroom lacks windows and a sense of permanency.
"Just the idea of knowing it’s not really a school," Miller said.
At Elliott Street School in Newark, children constantly ask when their new school is coming.
"We have no answers for them," said Esther Diaz, the school’s literacy coach.
Lightning struck the school in 2006. Since then, Elliott Street’s 473 pupils have been split into three groups housed in leased locations more than a mile apart. The principal shuttles between the three temporary schools every day.
Emma Nunez, a fourth-grade teacher, noted proudly that Elliott Street’s students have met minimum annual benchmarks on federally standardized tests.
"We’ve succeeded so far," Nunez said. "But imagine the possibilities if we were all in the same school."
August 31, 2011
The situation at Elliot Street is another story. After the lightning-sparked fire rendered that building unusable in 2006, the school district has been using insurance payments to lease three nearby buildings for the past five years, Morlino said.
But the insurance company has refused to make any additional lease payments, so this September, Elliot Street students will be attending classes at the old 1st Avenue School, Morlino said. That's almost two miles away from the old Elliot Street site. As a result, Newark Public Schools will bus the students back and forth each day between a gathering point near the old Elliot Street School and the 1st Avenue site.
