Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper spoke to lawmakers last Thursday about her recent report detailing operational improvements at the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (SCC). Appearing before the Assembly Education Committee, Cooper discussed the January 12th report that recommended that the Governor lift the freeze on new contracts at the SCC.

“Because new [SCC] leadership has proven its commitment to build schools efficiently and has implemented, or is in the process of implementing, my recommendations, I have proposed to the Governor that the agency…resume spending on new construction projects,” Cooper stated in the report.

Inefficiency Found  In February 2005, then-Governor Codey asked the Inspector General to conduct a review of the SCC, which had been created by the McGreevey administration to oversee construction in the Abbott school districts and other poor communities. The agency had been blamed in part for the rapid depletion of the $6 billion originally set aside by the school facilities act for Abbott school construction.

Cooper’s office found inefficiency and waste in the SCC and recommended a halt to SCC-managed projects. As a result, this summer the state stopped work on more than 200 projects in the 31 Abbott districts.

Moving Forward  NJSBA officials hailed the Inspector General’s January 12 recommendation to lift the suspension as good news.

“Necessary school construction projects have been on hold for quite some time,” said Edwina M. Lee, executive director. “The Inspector General’s investigation and recommendations should provide accountability and restore public confidence, so that these projects can move forward.”

Changes Made  As a result of the investigation of SCC finances and operations, the agency has implemented a number of the Inspector General’s recommendations, including:

• Creating the position of a Chief Financial Officer;
  
  
• Ensuring that expenditures could no longer be approved with a single signature;
  
  
• Ending all employee bonuses;
  
  
• Requiring the SCC Board of Directors to receive comprehensive information at least a week before board meetings;
  
  
• Instituting a more stringent process for change orders, which have totalled more than half a billion dollars;
  
  
• Adopting new procedures for land acquisition and new policies that allow school designs to be re-used (which SCC contracts with architectural firms had not allowed).

Governor Corzine’s office has not indicated if he will lift the 10-month-old ban on new construction projects managed by the SCC.