Sponsored by:
Senator DIANE B. ALLEN
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school facilities projects to maintain the character of historic school facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the renovation of historic school buildings and supplementing P.L.2000, c.72 (C.18A:7G-1 et al.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A long-range facilities plan filed by a school district pursuant to subsection a. of section 4 of P.L.2000, c.72 (C.18A:7G-4) shall identify any school facility within the district which has an historic significance. If the district has filed its plan prior to the effective date of this act, the district shall file an amendment to the plan pursuant to subsection c. of section 4 of P.L.2000, c.72 (C.18A:7G-4) which identifies those school facilities. As used in this section, "historic significance" includes, but is not limited to, events of historic significance and period architecture and design.
In making a determination on the historic significance of school facilities, the district shall consult with county and local historic preservation organizations, officials of the municipality or municipalities in which the district is situate, community organizations, and the public.
b. Any application for approval of a school facilities project submitted by a school district to the Commissioner of Education pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2000, c.72 (C.18A:7G-5) which includes a school facility with historic significance shall include information of the district's plan to preserve the historic character of the facility. The commissioner shall not approve a school facilities project unless he determines, in consultation with the Historic Preservation Office in the Department of Environmental Protection, that the project as proposed by the district satisfactorily preserves the historic character of the school facility. The commissioner and the office shall solicit the input of county and local historic preservation officials in evaluating the school facilities project application.
c. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Historic Preservation Office in the Department of Environmental Protection, shall establish guidelines to assist school districts in the identification of school facilities with historic significance.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that the long-range facilities plan submitted by a school district pursuant to the provisions of the "Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act," P.L.2000, c.72, identify any school facility within the district which has an historic significance. If the district has already filed its long-range facilities plan, then the district must file an amendment to the plan which identifies those school facilities. The bill defines historic significance to include, but not be limited to, events associated with the building and period architecture and design.
In making a determination on the historic significance of a school facility, the district will consult with county and local historic preservation organizations, municipal officials, community organizations, and the public.
The bill provides that an application for approval of a school facilities project submitted to the Commissioner of Education under the school construction law, which includes a school facility of historic significance, must include information on the district's plan to preserve the historic character of the facility. The commissioner may not approve the project unless he determines, in consultation with the Historic Preservation Office in the Department of Environmental Protection, that the district's plan will satisfactorily preserve the facility's historic character.
The bill directs the commissioner, in consultation with the Historic Preservation Office, to establish guidelines to assist school districts in the identification of school facilities with historic significance.