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SCC, Fairfield Educators Break Ground State Funding $10.6 Million for Pre-K to 8th Grade Project to Replace 2 Aging Schools in Cumberland County Community |
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| Fairfield Twp. NJ (September 18, 2004) – Hundreds of people turned out today for a major milestone in this Cumberland County community: a Groundbreaking Ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new 21st century school to replace two antiquated facilities. | |
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Students, teachers, parents, residents, along with local and state and officials, attended the event held by Fairfield Township School District and New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (SCC) in this rural township of 5,700. SCC is funding $10.6 million toward the $16.2 million project as part of New Jersey’s unprecedented $8.6 billion school construction program. Local voters overwhelmingly approved the new school at a bond referendum thanks to a concerted grassroots effort that brought the community together. |
 Middle School Circa 1920 |
| The new one-story 75,000-square-foot school is being built near the present middle school on Bridgeton-Millville Pike in the township’s Gouldtown section. It will provide state-of-the-art educational opportunities for 600 pre-Kindergarten-through-8th grade students. The new school, which will include 31 classrooms, a science lab, media center and cafetorium, will replace a primary school in the township’s Fairton section and the middle school that date back to the 1920s. Work is due for completion in 2006. The existing middle school will be razed after the new school is completed. |  |
School Superintendent Thomas Smith said plans for the new school have been in the works for nearly a decade. He congratulated the people of Fairfield Township for being "100 percent in favor of the new school project. The community has given a gift to the youth of the community that will keep on giving. It really will prepare them for life." Smith also said that SCC, by funding nearly 65 percent of the project, has greatly eased the burden on local taxpayers. Thomas C. Lane IV has devoted his life to education. The present township school board president, Lane is a retired Bridgeton school superintendent, former teacher and principal in the Fairfield District – and one of the moving forces behind the new school. |
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 Thomas C. Lane IV Board President |
"I’ve been involved in the district since 1947, my six children went to school here, and I know the importance of a good education," Lane said. "After I retired from Bridgeton in 1993, I came back here with one final educational purpose, and that was to get a new school for the boys and girls of this township," Lane continued. The teachers also deserve a new school, added Lane, noting that their dedication to their students has persevered over the years despite limitations imposed by the aging primary and middle schools. "As many times as I’ve spoken Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech in many places . . . this is mine . . . and it’s coming to fruition," Lane said. |
John F. Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of SCC, said, “This school project in Fairfield Township is an example of the strides SCC – in step with district officials and the building trades – is making toward providing top-flight facilities for our students statewide.” In addition, Spencer said, “Every state dollar spent on school construction projects is one less dollar that has to come from local taxpayers.” |
 Fairfield Board of Education |
Governor James E. McGreevey initiated SCC by two years ago to streamline the implementation of the program. It is the largest public construction program ever undertaken by the State of New Jersey and one of the largest of its kind in the nation. "This project in Fairfield represents New Jersey’s continued commitment to our children. We are living up to our most important obligation by providing 21st century facilities to ensure that every child has the opportunity to get the education they deserve and the skills necessary to start school," said Governor McGreevey. The new school, designed by Lighthouse Architecture, Inc. of Philadelphia, is being built by Imperial Construction of Elizabeth, NJ. URS Corporation is project management firm. |
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 Assemblymen John J. Burzichelli and Douglas H. Fisher, Legislative District 3, Thomas Smith, Superintendent of Schools, Thomas C. Lane IV, School Board President, Joseph Everett Lloyd, Fairfield Township Mayor |
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 Rendering of New Fairfield Township PreK-8th Grade School |
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