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$500M, 30-year lease for a new Newark school moves forward
By
Michael Sol Warren
Published Oct 15, 2026
Modified Oct 15, 2026
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M.Torres / Getty Images
By
Michael Sol Warren
Published Oct 15, 2026
Modified Oct 15, 2026
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Newark’s public school system is one big step closer to finalizing a nearly $500 million lease for a new elementary school.
It’s a deal district leaders have said would bring critical new classroom space to the city's heavily developed East Ward. But it carries a heavy price tag: a 30-year commitment to rent that starts at almost $1 million a month, and ticks up 2.5% each year until it’s about twice as high at the end of the lease.
Paul Brubaker, a spokesperson for Newark Public Schools, said the district was thankful for the Local Finance Board’s approval. The board voted 4-2 Wednesday to approve the proposal to lease a to-be-built building at 56 Freeman St., with a capacity for 667 students. District leaders have previously said they expect the building to open in fall 2028. It still requires final approval from the school board, which decided to pursue the lease earlier this year.
“This is one important step toward addressing the urgent need for additional public school capacity in Newark’s East Ward,” Brubaker said in a statement.
Garden State Republicans, who have long argued Newark schools get too much state funding at the expense of suburban districts, have seized on the deal as an example of reckless spending in the state’s largest city. But Brubaker stressed the district, which is one of New Jersey’s 31 districts where new construction is managed by the state Schools Development Authority, wouldn’t have had the financial means or legal authority to outright purchase or build a new school on its own.
The East Ward currently has eight elementary schools. The average age of those school buildings is 110 — and if the two schools built since 2016 aren't counted, the average age of the remaining schools is 151 years old.
The school district plans for the new Riverfront Elementary School to be a four-story building with an underground parking garage, recreation and learning spaces on the roof, and a ground-level playground. The school will service grades K-8.
The lease's terms call for the district to pay $11.4 million in the first year, with monthly rent of about $946,000. That yearly total will increase 2.5% each year. In the final year of the lease, the district will pay $23.2 million, or $1.9 million each month.
The district will have the option to purchase the school once the lease is up.
State approval for the lease came hours after Newark Public Schools leaders joined the New Jersey Schools Development Authority to break ground on a University High School planned in the South Ward. That high school is designed to hold just over 1,000 students; that project is expected to cost $173 million to build.
The East Ward property is owned by Scott Fields, a Newark businessman and major donor to Mayor Ras Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign, according to public records first reported by NJ Spotlight News. Neither Fields nor Baraka responded to requests from Gothamist Thursday for comment about the state approval for the proposed lease, but Baraka previously told NJ Spotlight News he had no authority or involvement in the deal.
The Newark Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in March to pursue the new lease. That resolution noted that the district would need to seek approvals from the Local Finance Board and the state Department of Education.
The education department did not immediately respond on Thursday to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the comptroller’s office said they could not confirm or deny any ongoing reviews, or comment on specific pending matters.
Brubaker said Newark's Board of Education will have to give a final approval to the deal.
Republican state lawmakers have heavily criticized the district’s plan since it was made public this year, characterizing it as a waste of money that will largely fall on taxpayers around New Jersey.
Newark Public Schools is New Jersey’s largest school district by far, and its most heavily subsidized. More than $1.3 billion was sent to the district in the current state budget. That’s roughly 10% of all the state aid distributed to school districts, and it makes Newark a regular punching bag for Republicans who argue suburban and rural school districts are being shortchanged.
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, the top Republican budget officer in the Senate, called the decision to approve the proposed lease “disgusting.”
“The lease alone will cost more per student than some districts spend in total on educating their students,” O’Scanlon said in a statement.
Republican Assemblymember Alex Sauickie, whose Central Jersey district includes suburban districts, called the board’s decision “reckless and irresponsible.”
"The Local Finance Board's job is to protect taxpayers, not rubber-stamp enormous commitments from districts with documented financial oversight failures," Sauickie said in a statement.
Tagged
Politics
education
new jersey
Michael Sol Warren
Michael Sol Warren covers New Jersey for WNYC and Gothamist, and previously reported on issues around the Garden State for NJ Spotlight News and NJ Advance Media. He can be reached at [email protected].
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