Robeson on List of Schools to be Renovated with State Funds

Paul Robeson Community School is the latest New Brunswick school to be announced as a recipient of state funding to improve, redo and renovate schools in New Jersey.

NJ.com is reporting that Gov. Chris Christie announced on Wednesday a list of 20 schools that will be the site of renovations and new construction at the hands of the School Development Authority (SDA). Eight of the projects have a total price tag of $675 million.

Paul Robeson was included in a category called "Projects addressing high educational priority needs," along with schools in Keansburg, Newark, Gloucester City, Phillipsburg, West New York and Passaic.

New Brunswick Superintendent of Schools, Richard Kaplan, said the project entails enlarging the school auditorium and adding classrooms, particularly for preschool and kindergarten.

Kaplan said the district was happy to be on the list of schools to be renovated, but said the specifications of of the construction are not yet known, including whether Robeson students would be moved to the district's "swing space" on Jersey Avenue for the duration of the construction.

Approximately seven years ago, the SDA took control of another school in New Brunswick. The A.C. Redshaw Elementary School was demolished with the intent to rebuild a brand new school on the existing site.

The students of the school were moved into the swing space, which is a converted warehouse on Jersey Avenue, and they are still there, after years of stalling on behalf of the state. 

According to Kaplan, Redshaw and Paul Robeson schools were originally on a list of 59 projects to be handled by the SDA. That project list was frozen when the governor took office as part of his campaign to reform the SDA.

In 2005, students from the Paul Robeson school were moved into the swing space because renovations for that school were anticipated to begin. No construction occurred during those two years, and the students were ultimately moved back.

On Wednesday, Kaplan said discussions have picked up about Redshaw, with state officials meeting extensively with district officials.

Schematic drawings for the school have been presented, but construction specifications have not yet been decided on, nor has anything gone to bid yet, Kaplan said.

If the project adheres to the current anticipated timeline, construction on Redshaw should begin next spring, and Redshaw's long-awaited doors would open in September of 2015.

Kaplan said the district has not yet been notified of when the Paul Robeson renovations would begin.

"We're pleased to have Robeson on the list, (are) very excited and hope it won't be as long," he said.