The polls are open in the East Windsor Regional School District for today’s bond referendum. The polls will be open until 9 p.m. When results become available, they will be posted here.
Should the East Windsor Regional School District issue $43.8 million in bonds to finance expansion and renovation projects at each of its six schools?
Yes
No
Check back with www.windsorhightsherald.com for results later this evening. —>
The East Windsor Regional School District will ask voters today whether they approve of borrowing money and raising taxes to renovate and build additions at all of its schools.
The project is proposed to satisfy space requirements of a growing student population, which district officials said will increase by over 1,100 students by the year 2007. Enrollment now stands at over 4,800.
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Polling places listed The East Windsor Regional Board of Education has explained and re-explained the need for expansions and additions on its six area schools, a project which would cost local taxpayers $43.9 million. The total cost of the construction project is $64.5 million the state is reimbursing the district $20.6 million. Polling hours are 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. today. Voters can cast their vote at the following locations: Grace N. Rogers School cafeteria (Hightstown Districts 1, 2 and 3); Melvin H. Kreps Middle School gym A (East Windsor Districts 1, 2, 4 and 6); Ethel McKnight School multipurpose room (East Windsor Districts 10 and 11); Kreps School gym B (East Windsor Districts 5 and 7); Perry L. Drew School main entrance (East Windsor Districts 9, 12, 15 and 16); Hightstown High School main lobby (Hightstown District 4); Meadow Lakes auditorium (East Windsor District 3); Kreps School gym B rear (East Windsor Districts 8, 13 and 14). |
If the referendum gets enough "yes" votes, plans will move forward to renovate and add to all of the district’s facilities, improving heating-air conditioning systems, replacing old windows with energy efficient ones and enclosing open space into permanently partitioned classrooms.
The tax rate in Hightstown and East Windsor will also increase significantly if the project is approved.
The total cost of the construction project is over $64.4 million, with over $20.6 million of the cost to be reimbursed by the Department of Education. If the bond referendum passes, it has been estimated by school officials that the tax rate would increase by 23.07 cents per $100 of assessed property value in East Windsor and 24.45 cents in Hightstown. For every $100,000 of assessed value in East Windsor, that would mean an increase of $230.70 per year in the school tax bill for property owners. Hightstown property owners would see an increase of $244.50 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Construction plans call for an additional 30 classrooms across the district to house the growing student population. Entryways to schools would also be improved for heightened security and, at some schools, bus pickup and drop-off locations would be improved. Cafeterias would be enlarged and media centers would be renovated. Music and art rooms would also be created.
The district administration would also move its offices into the annex at Hightstown High School, from its current location in the White House on Stockton Street.
Aside from the obvious concern of the tax increase to pay off the bonds, some voters have asked the Board of Education whether there are any that have not been disclosed. Board president Bruce Ettman and district business administrator David Shafter both said there are none.
"The children are here," Mr. Shafter explained. "Whether we have the classrooms or not, the children are here."
Mr. Shafter went on to explain that with or without passage of the bond referendum, expenses like additional books and supplies to meet the needs of the growing population would still be there.
Mr. Ettman said that the biggest additional expense, as a result of the referendum passing, would be for full-day kindergarten. The community, he said, has been asking for this for years and educators also recommend it.
The district would need to add eight additional kindergarten teachers to implement a full-day kindergarten program, Mr. Ettman said. Mr. Shafter added that up to three additional custodians would be necessary. Three custodians with health insurance would cost the district $99,000.
A letter to the editor of the Herald recently expressed concern with other costs such as insurance and utilities. Mr. Shafter said that insurance costs would go up "slightly," but said that the number is "nebulous."
"I’d hate to give a number then call it wrong," he said, "but our total property insurance cost is $176,000. Even if it rose 20 percent, we’re only talking $35,000 per year."
Liability insurance, which Mr. Shafter said is based on student population, would increase regardless of passing of the referendum, but he did not give a figure.
Energy and utilities costs, Mr. Shafter explained, depend on the school and its renovations. The cost of new air conditioning systems at the Grace N. Rogers School and Hightstown High School would be offset by utility savings from new energy-efficient windows, he said. A new boiler at the Rogers School, to replace the electric resistance heating system with gas, would also be offset by efficiency savings.
"Some will go up and some will go down," Mr. Ettman said, "so we don’t know how it’s going to net out. It wouldn’t be a substantial change."
While some costs are bound to rise, Mr. Shafter and Mr. Ettman said that most of the major costs of the project, such as furniture, are built into the bond referendum costs. Mr. Ettman expressed hope the voters will understand that by Tuesday.
He also pointed out that without passage of the referendum the district is faced with even greater problems, such as having to house students in trailers or other leased space, and the increased transportation costs associated with it.
"We certainly don’t want to retrofit somebody else’s property," Mr. Ettman said. "Trailers are not only impracticable, but very expensive."
Mr. Ettman said it would cost between $45,000 and $50,000 to set up trailers for students, not including rental cost.
"We don’t want to do that, but that would be a necessity if we don’t have the bond referendum," he said. "We believe that we’re spending money now that would be useful for the future. We believe it’s an educational and financially sound project. The alternative is spending money now that we’ll never recover."

