James Monroe Elementary School will be rebuilt by September 2016, officials say.
EDISON -- The Edison school district's former insurance company has agreed to pay about $11 million more toward the cost of rebuilding a burned-down elementary school, bringing to a close an uneasy chapter in the story of the James Monroe fire.
The school board voted Monday night to approve the settlement with the New Jersey Schools Insurance Group.
The insurance company will pay a total of $23.6 million to rebuild the school, an accord that was reached after the district filed a lawsuit. That's nearly $11 million more than the company has previously paid. Edison will bear some costs, including architect fees, a public adjuster, and a construction manager -- about $3 million.
"The school is going to get built on time, and the taxpayers aren't going to pay to build it, because the insurance company came forward and did the right thing," said Richard O'Malley, the superintendent of Edison's public schools.
The settlement ends months of bitter legal wrangling, the first stages of which the school district won. The district is canceling a plan to borrow to pay for James Monroe Elementary School, meaning taxpayers will no longer be on the hook for an estimated $21 per year for 30 years. Voters approved the borrowing in March, but that was always an emergency plan, and school officials remained optimistic that a settlement could be reached.
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New Jersey Schools Insurance Group officials declined to comment until they'd received the signed agreement.
The company initially argued that they should not have to pay for additional amenities -- for example, fire-suppressing sprinklers. The refusal to pay for sprinklers was not just symbolic, it was pricey, stoking criticism in the state's fifth-largest town. The insurance company will pay for sprinklers as part of the agreement, the district said.
The district switched insurance companies after the fire.
James Monroe Elementary School burned down in March 2014, a blaze sparked by a custodian's carelessly discarded cigarette. Jerome Higgins pleaded to a petty disorderly persons offense for smoking, and he's also being sued for repair costs.
The new school is on track for a September 2016 opening on its former Sharp Road site, O'Malley said.
Nobody was injured in the blaze, which occurred on a Saturday.
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.