School plan approved Samsel School expected to open September 2004

Staff Writer

By jennifer dome

School plan approved
Samsel School expected to open September 2004

Sayreville residents approved a $28 million referendum Tuesday to make additions at the Samsel School and ease overcrowding in the borough’s schools.

Approximately 66 percent of those who voted approved the project. Residents in each of the 18 voting districts in the borough approved the referendum, Superintendent of Schools Dennis Fyffe said.

"This is not typical," he said.

Of the approximately 22,000 registered voters in the district, 2,875 voted in favor and 1,486 cast dissenting votes.

The approved additions to the Samsel School will expand its capacity from approximately 275 students to 1,200 students, officials have said. The cost of the additions is $28 million, with $7 million being paid in state aid and $21 million in district funds.

According to Fyffe, the resulting property tax increase is estimated to be $54 for a home with an assessed value of $135,000.

The Board of Education’s architect will now begin working on the detailed plans for the project, Fyffe said. Specific details such as electrical wiring and plumbing have to be included in the final plans, he said. He expects the work to take about six to eight months. The plans will then have to get final state approval. After receiving that approval, the district can go out to bid on the project, Fyffe said.

"We anticipate no problems with opening in September of 2004," Fyffe said.

With the new additions, the Samsel School will become an upper elementary school, housing students from fourth grade and fifth grades, school officials said. The new school will allow more room in the four elementary schools and at the middle school, which has the most dire overcrowding conditions.

During a visit to the Sayreville Middle School by U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine last week, Principal Dr. Frank Alfano said there are 67 classes in the school that have 30 or more students. There are 30 classes that have 31 or more students, Alfano said.

Several middle school students told Corzine last week that their gym classes are extremely crowded and they often have to hold them in the hallways.

Currently, art and music teachers at the middle school move from class to class throughout the day, carrying their supplies on carts, Alfano said. Approximately 140 students during each of the four lunch periods are forced to eat their lunch in the library/media center, since the cafeteria is too crowded, Board of Education President Kevin Ciak said. According to school officials, two computer classes and a gifted and talented class are also held in the library during those lunch periods.

With the approval of the referendum, the district will gain 61 classrooms, two science labs and two computer labs in the Samsel School. The school will also have art and music rooms, a modern media center and a gymnasium with a full-sized court and bleachers.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Carla Sutherland said additional classrooms were included so that special education students, who are now transported outside the district, can be cared for in their own school district.

According to Fyffe, about 140 special education students are transported out of the district because of the lack of room for their care. Keeping more of the special needs students in the district and hiring their own teachers would be a cost savings to district residents, Fyffe said.