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SDA outlines $1.75 billion portfolio as projects advance; officials urge continued bonding
Summary
School Development Authority CEO Manny Da Silva told senators the authority delivered thousands of new seats and is advancing a multi-hundred-million-dollar capital program, noting $350 million in FY26 funding and approximately $1.75 billion in projects tied to SDA and regular operating districts.
Manny Da Silva, chief executive officer of New Jersey's School Development Authority, told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee that the SDA's portfolio continues to advance even as available capital narrows. "This past fall, the authority delivered more than 3,600 new seats and more than 587,000 square feet of new construction," he said.
Da Silva said FY2026 proposals include $350 million drawn from a 2022 debt and defeasance appropriation to fund authority projects and operations. Combined with prior allocations and federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that the authority has spent, SDA officials said the funding stream will allow delivery of a number of projects now in planning or early construction stages.
Officials said roughly $1.75 billion in SDA projects remain active in the portfolio and that several design-build contracts will be advertised in the coming months. The authority highlighted a Union City project identified in testimony as the Esther Salas project; SDA said $50 million in ARPA capital grant funding contributed to that work and that certain ARPA-funded disbursements are being held in reserve until districts meet multi-year service commitments.
SDA also defended its delivery model and said its prototypical school designs and design-build approach keep change orders below industry averages and produce competitive per-square-foot costs. Committee members pressed SDA about construction timelines, available cash and whether the next administration and legislature will provide consistent bonding for school construction; Da Silva and committee members said legislative action will be required if long-term bonding is to continue.
The authority said some projects are just entering construction and others have design contracts pending; it estimated about half the portfolio will move into design and construction in the next two years. The committee took the presentation as background for final appropriations and broader capital planning discussions.
