The New Jersey Department of Education must estimate what it would cost to complete hundreds of stalled school construction projects in its poorest cities, the state’s highest court says.
The unanimous Dec. 19 ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court came in an ongoing effort to figure out how to finish hundreds of building projects even though the state agency overseeing them, the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp., is nearly out of money. (“N.J. Facility Fund Dries Up, Scores of Plans on Hold,” Aug. 10, 2005.)
Under the ruling, the state has until Feb. 15 to provide the estimates. State officials pledged to abide by the ruling.
The facilities projects had been ordered in the state’s 31 poorest districts as part of the long-running Abbott v. Burke school finance case.
