$7.3 million expansion project is under way for Cranbury School.
By: Casha Caponegro
The Cranbury school board has received a thumbs up from the Planning Board to go ahead with a $7.3 million expansion project.
The school board now awaits word from the state concerning the amount of aid it will receive. That number will determine the cost of the bond referendum, set to be held Jan. 22.
The planning review was required by the state. The Planning Board is asked to make suggestions concerning the project, through the school board is not required to follow the recommendations, said school board secretary Walter Pudelko.
Mr. Pudelko said the only suggestion made by the Planning Board at its meeting on Oct. 4 concerned a lack of space for buses to turn around in the parking lot, which the school board will consider in the final designs of the project.
The expansion project was proposed Sept. 4 as a solution to student enrollment increases.
Vice Principal Carole Malouf said the K-8 school suffers from overcrowded conditions that will intensify as more students attend the school.
According to a recent demographic study by University Associates, the current number of students, 578, will grow to 604 in 2003 and 612 in 2004.
An ad hoc committee made up of parents, faculty, township officials and residents was created in January to study the need for a new gym.
The committee recommended the construction of a new gymnasium and six additional classrooms. Based on the results of the demographic study, the school administration is asking for a seventh new classroom.
The board is seeking to build a new gymnasium and seven new classrooms at a cost of about $7.3 million.
The board unanimously approved the revised expansion plans at its meeting on Oct. 2.
To educate and inform residents about the expansion project, an ad hoc subcommittee will work to market the project and encourage voter turn-out for the referendum. It also will display the preliminary designs of the addition and be on hand to answer any questions parents may have at next week’s parent-teacher conferences.

