Hopes high for P'burg High District leaders think they can beat the odds and get the state cash to build a new school. Sunday, June 08, 2008 • By TRISH GRABER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Phillipsburg School District officials don't want to think about a backup plan should their long-awaited high school not appear on the state's list of schools to be built with a proposed $2.5 billion in funding. The state is finalizing a list of 20 new Abbott construction projects that could be completed with the proposed funding, ranked by educational priority. They will be chosen from more than 100, according to Department of Education spokeswoman Kathryn Forsyth. Despite the odds, Phillipsburg officials believe they stand a good chance. Before construction of the $88 million high school -- now projected at $105 million -- was halted in 2005, the state spent $16 million on site work and to acquire 126 acres for construction. Seven athletic fields on the new school site are partially completed. "We're ready to go," said Phillipsburg School Board President Paul Rummerfield. Aside from the preparation, district officials said the condition of the high school should put them in close running with other Abbott districts. It's been 12 years since the first of 31 trailers was placed on the property as makeshift classrooms. The high school is riddled with problems, including a leaking roof in the auditorium because of century-old gutters and a library so small that students rarely use it unless a teacher reserves it for a class, according to school officials. "You can't believe that the state would allow this to go on much longer than it has," said Phillipsburg Council President David DeGerolamo, who graduated from the school in 1985. The existing high school was built in 1929, with an addition in 1960. School officials and community members began discussing either renovations or building a new one in the early 1990s to address overcrowding. They determined a new school would be cheaper. Renovations would mean expanding into surrounding neighborhoods with the possibility of having to acquire property through eminent domain. The district started on the project in 2000. But construction was halted in 2005 when the embattled Schools Construction Corp., the state entity charged with overseeing construction projects, ran out of money. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has promised the state Supreme Court he would provide $2.5 billion for school construction projects in Abbott districts, 31 of the poorest districts that are heavily subsidized by the state. The funding must still be approved by the Legislature. In the meantime, the Department of Education is working on a list of projects to be completed with the money. Officials at the Schools Development Authority, which replaced the SCC, said the $2.5 billion will cover 20 previously approved projects and 20 new ones. Phillipsburg will be considered in the second batch. Its competition was recently whittled from 371 other projects to just more than 100. District officials said they are optimistic. "If we're not (on the list), we're going to have to step back and we're going to have to come up with an alternative plan," said Rummerfield. "At this point we're looking forward, we're not even ... anticipating that we're not going to be funded." Officials have discussed other options, including regionalizing the district, which would allow the sending towns to contribute to the costs. Current law prevents them from paying the principal cost of a project. Another possibility floated included changing the amount sending districts can provide or obtaining state funding for Phillipsburg's portion of the project but letting the sending districts pick up the remainder of the cost. If the school is not funded by the state and nothing changes, acting Superintendent George Chando said, the 31 trailers that serve as classrooms on the school grounds may be sufficient for two more years. But, he said, they are inconvenient for the students and less conducive to learning than a traditional classroom. But, Rummerfield, said the issue goes beyond the school. "It really has a far-reaching effect, not just on the school district but on the community," he said. Trish Graber is Trenton correspondent for The Express-Times. She can be reached at 609-292-5154.