Ad hoc committee to propose building a smaller high school
By: Rebecca Tokarz
MONROE An ad hoc committee is excepted to recommend that the school board consider scaling down plans for a new high school and that it find a centralized location to build it.
The 40-person committee met Tuesday and will make its recommendation to the school board Jan. 29. If approved, the plan will head to voters Sept. 30 in the form of a referendum.
The recommendation is not expected to include specific changes to the district’s original $113 million plan, which was rejected by voters in September.
School Business Administrator Wayne Holliday said the board will have to decide what to scale down before the project gets a price tag.
The committee is expected to recommend a plan that calls for the construction of a new high school, but in a more centralized location on a smaller parcel of land.
Under the plan, the district would turn the existing high school into a middle school and convert Applegarth Middle School into an elementary school. Brookside Elementary School would be renovated to meet heating, ventilation and air-conditioning standards. Applegarth would be upgraded to ensure the school is compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The HVAC system also would be improved.
In December, the ad hoc committee identified a list of potential sites for a school expansion. The list included an 88-acre parcel of land on Gravel Hill-Spotswood Road, adjacent to the Public Works building; the 100-plus-acre Delapietro tract; the 72-acre Gold tract, which is adjacent to Brookside School and across from Farmer Al’s and a 70-plus acre at the corner Mounts Mills Road and Spotswood Englishtown Road.
The new plan is expected to help deal with increasing student enrollment. As a temporary fix, the district will place portable classroom trailers at the high school, Applegarth Middle School and Brookside Elementary in September.
The original $113 million plan called for purchasing 113 acres of land on Applegarth Road for a new high school, which would hold 1,800 students; renovating the exiting high school into a middle school; renovating Applegarth Middle School into an elementary school; and renovating Brookside School.
The plan was defeated 5,510 to 3,744 in September. It carried a tax rate increase of 7.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. If the referendum had passed, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $141,000 would have paid an additional $109.98 in school taxes.
The school tax rate for the 2002-2003 school year is $1.49 per $100 of assessed valuation, with the owner of a house assessed at the township average paying $2,100.90 in school taxes.
The committee has been meeting since the referendum failed to develop a workable plan that would deal with increasing student enrollment numbers and be accepted by voters.