The Trenton Times published the following article on January 17, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
State schools authority denies grant for Trenton Central High School repairs
By Brendan McGrath/The Times of Trenton
on January 17, 2014 at 11:04 PM, updated January 17, 2014 at 11:11 PMTRENTON — The city school district’s efforts to speed up repairs to the crumbling Trenton Central High School have fallen flat as the state has denied the district $8 million funding for urgently needed repairs, documents released today said.
The 82-year-old building on Chambers Street has a leaking roof, old pipes that leak in the walls, mold, warped floors and asbestos.
The money would have come in the form of a special grant arising from arbitration talks between the school district and the state. However, state officials have refused to issue the money, saying the district is not capable of using it properly.
The state Schools Development Authority said in its refusal that it would not award the grant because it was not confident that the “district has demonstrated that it has the experience, resources and expertise necessary to complete and manage this time-sensitive project without unduly impacting educational services.”
The state Schools Development Authority announced last summer that its board had awarded a contract for “pre-design services” at the school and said preliminary estimates set rehabilitation costs between $23 million to $27 million.