The Healthy Schools Now coalition of the NJ Work Environment Council is proud to partner with Education Law Center in calling for the NJ Department of Education and NJ Schools Development Authority (SDA) to approve submitted Emergent Project requests from SDA districts. With the most recent emergent projects submission deadline in September of 2016, the state agencies responsible for decisions have had more than enough time to review and grant approvals for emergency projects.
According to the SDA, emergent projects defined in Department of Education regulations at 6A:26 “means a capital project necessitating expedited review and, if applicable, approval, in order to alleviate a condition that, if not corrected on an expedited basis, would render a building or facility so potentially injurious or hazardous that it causes an imminent peril to the health and safety of students or staff.” Twenty-three of the 31 SDA districts submitted a total of 429 project applications under the 2016 PEP program.
This is a constitutionally mandated obligation for the state. We implore the NJ Department of Education and Schools Development Authority to release the Emergent Project approvals expeditiously.
