A nearly thirty year battle by a select group of North Bergen and area residents against the municipality and the North Bergen Board of Education appears to have come to an end. A permanent, pre-K school building will not be constructed in James J. Braddock County Park, and the “temporary” pre-K trailers will ultimately be removed from the park.
A press release issued by the Township and the Board of Education’s public relation’s firm, states, “The Township of North Bergen and the North Bergen Board of Education will withdraw their Diversion Application with the State Department of Environmental Protection concerning the land within Braddock Park that housed the Pre-K trailers. After carefully examining the issue, the Board of Education has concluded that dramatic increases in construction costs for a new school building in Braddock Park has forced the board to consider options less optimal than the Braddock Park location. Additionally, officials have concluded that asking taxpayers to pay for an additional school at a time when they are enduring inflation and cost of living increases is not financially responsible. Unfortunately, North Bergen is not an Abbott District, where new schools are paid for with State tax dollars, and instead any new school project would have to be funded by local taxpayers.”
Earlier this month, the school district opened the Nicholas J. Sacco Junior High School, which is now serving 7th and 8th grade students and will expand to 9th graders next year. The opening the new junior high school, additional classroom space became available at the township’s local elementary schools, creating the space necessary for the Pre-K 4 program which is now open to all, eligible North Bergen students.
At the same time, the district began offering free, Full Day Pre-K 3 to a limited number of students whose families meet federal poverty guidelines. Those students are being housed at a local, Head Start certified, private preschool. The Board of Education will work to expand the program by identifying additional seats at local, state-certified private preschools and daycares. Pre-K 3 and 4 programs are funded by the New Jersey State Preschool Expansion Aid program, which did not exist at the time the diversion application was first initiated.
For those residents who have opposed the pre-school trailers in the park and the potential construction of a permanent school building, this news comes as a victory, both in terms of safety for the school children and returning potential space for recreation use inside the county park.