12 Newark School Buildings To Be Transferred, Possibly Sold

Newark, NJ – The Newark Public School District may soon bid farewell to 12 of its buildings.

During a Newark School Advisory Board meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Chris Cerf confirmed plans to transfer 12 district-owned properties to the Newark Housing Authority, which will assess whether the buildings can be repurposed to housing or sold, NJ.com reported.

The 12 properties set to be transferred are:

• Maple Avenue School
• Maple Avenue School Annex
• State Street building (office)
• Dayton Street School
• William Brown Academy
• Benjamin Banneker School
• Clinton Avenue School
• Mary Wheeler Willis Day Care Center
• Morton Street School
• Roseville Avenue School
• Warren Street School

One of the properties - the former Burnet Street School - is currently occupied by the Paolo Freire Charter School, a report stated.

Cerf stated on Tuesday that he expected the move to clear up $2 to $4 million in annual insurance and maintenance costs.

Cerf added that any proceeds from potential sales of the properties would go to the district’s capital improvement fund.

The move was met with concern from critics of the transfer.

“A cloud of suspicions still hangs over Cerf’s head because of the so-called ‘Pink Hula Hoop’ transfer,” Bob Braun wrote on his blog. “In that deal, former superintendent Cami Anderson sold the 18th Avenue School to TEAM Academy Charter Schools at below fair market value.”

The Newark Students Union wrote on a social media post that the deal amounted to a “back-stabbing by the very people who said that they cared about public schools.”

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