Corzine can't give local parents the answer they want Residents ask governor where state stands on financing new P'burg High. Wednesday, March 21, 2007 • By DANIEL HAUSMANN • The Express-Times PISCATAWAY TWP. | Two Lopatcong Township parents trekked 50 miles to Union County for the chance to hear Gov. Jon Corzine explain what he's doing to jumpstart stalled school projects like the one in Phillipsburg. Russa Nollstadt didn't get the answer she was looking for. "We're out of money," Corzine told her. "There's no food in the pantry to go beyond what we committed to." The Democratic governor hosted a public forum at Quibbletown Middle School to tout his state finance reform efforts. After discussing his financial plans for state government, Corzine fielded questions on topics such as stem cell research and teaching abstinence in schools. Nollstadt and Scott Ritchey presented Corzine with a petition signed by 346 Phillipsburg-area residents calling for a new high school. Phillipsburg has been waiting on $88 million to complete the high school. The Schools Construction Corp., a state agency established to build schools in New Jersey, ran out of money in July 2005 after years of waste and mismanagement. The SCC had enough money to work on 59 out of 350 projects statewide. Attempts to resurrect the program haven't been successful. So far, the state has completed $16 million in site work to install a road and some athletic fields. Nollstadt said she has been e-mailing officials for answers on the project. She doesn't want to see her 7-year-old daughter spend half her day in a high school trailer when she's 14. "How many years is it going to take to get this (school)?" Nollstadt asked. "I'm going to spend the next seven years fighting before (my daughter) gets in there. Driving by the 'road to nowhere' is depressing." Corzine said the state needs to overhaul how it finances capital projects. He said he is "passionately committed" to getting Phillipsburg a state-of-the-art high school. The parents at the forum Tuesday night were part of a larger group that has become more active in trying to get this issue resolved. The members trade daily e-mails on what kind of letter-writing campaigns to mount and when to schedule rallies. They are planning a demonstration April 21 at the high school site at the northern end of Roseberry Street. Corzine said he is considering attending the demonstration, and he jokingly said he was more likely to because Nollstadt asked. "We definitely want to give the governor a chance to come and see it," Ritchey said. Meanwhile, the student population is going up and so is the number of trailers at the high school. Forty percent of the 1,710 high-schoolers are in the 31 trailers. "I find it unacceptable that any of our kids are in trailers," Corzine said. "Too often we have promised things we can't deliver." The district's projections show the population will increase to 1,921 in 2010. Reporter Daniel Hausmann can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at dhausmann@express-times.com. . © 2007 The Express-Times. Used by NJ.com with permission.