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When Superintendent Roger León announced the opening of a new trade school in the city’s East Ward three years ago, he touted the school as an opportunity for students to fast-track their technical careers and earn a contract to work with Newark Public Schools.
But the project has been plagued by worker complaints over unfair wages and late payments that launched a state investigation. The Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, originally scheduled to open in fall 2022, is now set to open in September 2025, and the developer of the site says a new stop-work order issued to a subcontractor is not expected to slow down the timeline.
District officials this week refused to answer questions about the school’s expected opening next school year or whether students will see the new school listed as an option when the district’s enrollment system, Newark Enrolls, opens next month.
Partial construction at 155 Jefferson Street, the site of the former St. James Hospital being overhauled into the new school, was interrupted last month after the New Jersey Department of Labor issued the latest stop-work order to Allied Construction Services L.L.C. of Newark, one of the subcontractors performing work on the property, for failing to pay workers a proper wage and keep payroll records, among other violations.
It was the second violation over improper wages for a project that has had its completion date delayed for three straight years. District leaders have said the school will teach students about skilled trades, interior design, and architecture.
Despite disruptions, the developer of the property says it is on track to complete the first phase of construction by January 2025.
In 2021, the district entered into a $160 million, 20-year lease with the developer of the property and Summit Assets CEO, Albert Nigri. In 2022, Newark spent $672,000 to hire engineering consulting firm Remington & Vernick to help the district with construction management services, such as reviewing contract documents, project schedules, securing bonds, insurance, and permits, according to the firm’s website. But it’s unclear if the district has accrued new costs over the years.
In an email to Chalkbeat Newark on Wednesday, Paul Brubaker, the district’s communications director, said the delayed opening was due to “reasons beyond the district’s control” and directed construction questions to Nigri.
Nigri told Chalkbeat Newark on Friday that changes in contractors, subcontractors, and an increase in the size of the building per the district’s request have impacted the delivery date. Allied Construction Services, the subcontractor issued the state stop-work order in September, was fired from the project last month, Nigri said. He did not say who replaced the company.
The state Department of Labor issued the first stop-work order in September 2022 to Summit Assets, Townhouse Builders Inc. of Brooklyn, N.Y, the general contractor of the site at the time, and Dimension Contractors LLC of Newark, the subcontractor at that time. That order completely halted work on the site for months before Nigri hired a new contractor and subcontractor, Hughes & Hughes General Contracting of New York, N.Y and Allied Construction Services L.L.C. respectively.
The Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design is set to focus on three trades – plumbing, electricity, and HVAC – and allow students to study architecture and interior design. The curriculum will also give students a high school diploma and a license for trade work, district officials have previously said.
The new school, district officials have said, would bring life to the dilapidated hospital building that has stood vacant for years in the middle of the city’s Ironbound neighborhood. When it opens, the school will first enroll ninth-grade students and add a grade level each year, wrote Brubaker via email.
The state’s second stop-work order came weeks before the Nov. 2 opening of Newark Enrolls, the only way city students can apply for a spot at their preferred district school for the coming year. That day, the district also holds its annual all-schools fair, where families can learn more about Newark schools and meet teachers and staff.
The latest version of the amended lease, approved by the school board in August, lists the high school’s updated opening date as fall 2025. The amended lease includes three new deadlines for the completion of the school: by Jan. 9, 2025, the base of the school building must be completed; by July 30, 2025, the newly constructed gym and auditorium must be completed; and by Sept. 1, 2025 the building must be completed, according to that lease obtained by Chalkbeat Newark through public records.
On Tuesday morning, a few workers walked on the construction site of the new school, where windows and plywood could be seen on the outside of the building.
The new high school is meant to help address the country’s shortage of skilled trade workers while carrying out León’s goal to expand the district, reclaim former public school buildings, and stop the expansion of charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded. District leaders are also working to upgrade some of the city’s oldest public school buildings, many of which need new heating and air conditioning systems and upgrades to boilers and roofs, among other needs.
Ahead of filing wage complaints with the state in 2022, laborers at the high school’s construction site told TAPInto Newark that poor working conditions were making their jobs unsafe and many were being paid in cash.
In September 2022, after the state’s first order stalled work on the construction site, dozens of union worker workers showed up to a school board meeting demanding that León intervene after they were forced out of work and owed wages. During that meeting, León acknowledged some of the confusion by addressing laborers’ complaints and reiterated the district’s plan to move forward with a September 2023 opening, which would later be delayed.
Under a previous timeline given by the district, the school was supposed to see its first graduating class in June 2027.
Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
