Board OKs plan for new MTHS

High school expansion plan is approved.

By: Rebecca Tokarz
MONROE — A new $82.9 million high school expansion plan was met with mixed reaction from the more than 150 residents in attendance at Wednesday night’s Board of Education meeting.
   The school board unveiled and approved — by a 9-1 vote — a plan to build a three-story high school near the intersection of Perrineville Road and School House Road in Thompson Park, across the street from the existing high school. The proposed 365,000-square- foot building would be built on a 35-acre parcel and would accommodate 1,800 students. The land would be acquired from Middlesex County and the state Green Acres program in exchange for dedication of open space elsewhere in the township.
   The district is expecting about $15 million in aid for the project, meaning taxpayers will contribute $67.94 million. The referendum is scheduled for Dec. 9.
   If approved, school officials said the school could be ready for occupancy by fall 2008.
   Reaction to the plan was mixed Wednesday. Some residents said they were unhappy with the possibility of increased traffic along the already heavily traveled Perrineville Road, while others said they would support the scaled-down plan and hoped the voters would back it.
   "It’s in a centralized location and the cost went down. We reduced it by 30 percent. Our children need space, we cannot wait or we’ll have trailer after trailer," resident Jackie Winters said.
   Voters rejected a $113 million expansion plan in September that called for the construction of a new 411,000-square-foot high school, conversion of the existing high school into a grade 6-8 middle school, conversion of Applegarth Middle School into a K-5 elementary school and construction of an addition onto Brookside Elementary School.
   Nancy Prohaska of Perrineville Road said she was worried about the impending traffic problem that would created by having a middle school and a high school in the same area.
   "I am a little unhappy with this," Ms. Prohaska said. She said that, when she moved to the neighborhood, she never could have thought a high school would end up in the park.
   "Who would ever have expected a high school to be put in the park," Ms. Prohaska said.
   Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said the district and township officials worked together to find a central location for the school. He said they were limited by the lack of available land.
   "This is the only location left in terms of land left in the township," he said.
   Dr. Ferrie said the location of the property helped keep the cost of the referendum down. The district had anticipated spending about $8.95 million for acquisition of property.
   The property is expected to be acquired via a land-swap with Middlesex County. According to an April 8 letter from Mayor Richard Pucci to Dr. Ferrie, Director David Crabiel of the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders said he in favor of the trade under the Green Acres Land Exchange program.
   Township Engineer Ernie Feist said the town must provide the county with another parcel of equal or greater value in return for the 35-acre parcel. He said the township is in the process of obtaining a 77-acre parcel near the intersection of School House Road and Route 522 that could be deeded to the county in return for the high school tract.
   Once an official site plan is approved by the Board of Education, the Township Council can move forward with an application to the Middlesex County Freeholders and then to the state.
   Approval from the county and state could take between six and nine months, because the board with final say on the swap — the State House Commission — meets quarterly, Mayor Pucci said Thursday.
   He said he believed the county would view the application positively because it gives them more than twice as much property in return and would save the district nearly $9 million.
   "This plan has substantial savings," Mayor Pucci said.
   The district’s ad hoc committee has been meeting since the referendum’s defeat to formulate a proposal that would be accepted by voters, but one that would provide classroom space for the district’s increasing student enrollment.
   The new proposal evolved from the ad hoc committee, but was recommended by the administration, according to Dr. Ferrie said.
   As of March, enrollment reached 3,794 and it is expected to hit 3,812 students by the end of the year. The district projects 4,152 in the schools at the start of the 2002-2004 school year and 5,084 students by 2006-2007.
   The new plan would form a campus-like atmosphere between the Monroe Township High School and the existing high school and allows for the sharing of facilities.
   The district plans to renovate sporting fields at the existing high school so they are multi-purpose. Students from both schools would be able to use the facilities by walking between the two campuses.
   He said the plan also allows for growth. The district’s architect — MRM Architects — designed a proposal that would include space on the land for future expansion, should it be needed.
   "There may be a time that we’ll need to accommodate for 2,100 students," Dr. Ferrie said. "If we need to add instructional classes, the space is there."
   Unlike the original referendum, renovations to Applegarth Middle School, the current high school and Brookside Elementary School were not included in the proposal. Although the projects were taken out of the plan, they remain on the district’s priority list, he said.
   According to Dr. Ferrie, the district has three approaches it could take to ensure the necessary upgrades, including asking voters for approval of the work as a separate question on a future school budget, including the capital projects in future school budgets as "spending growth limitation adjustment" or proposing small referendums to the public.
   "It could be one of these plans or any combination of the three," he said.
   Dr. Ferrie said all students would benefit from the approach of passing the high school plan and while working on the smaller projects outside of that plan.
   "Everyone will benefit from these strategies if we stay on course with the big picture of the other projects," he said.
   School board member Jay Ellis Brown voted against the project because he said the new high school will not fulfill student needs.
   "Putting a high school on 35-acres is woefully inadequate," he said.
   Mr. Brown said he worried about children participating in physical education classes that would need to cross a busy road to get to fields and facilities located at the existing high school.
   "I am concerned about the crossover," he said. "The physical education classes will cross the road."
   Dr. Ferrie said the district was exploring ways to address the safety issues. Traffic studies will be performed and the township and school district will discuss the need for stop lights and speed limit changes, Dr. Ferrie said. Tentative plans could include construction of a walkway over School House Road or a full-time crossing guard.
   "We have thought about that," Dr. Ferrie said. "We are exploring alternatives to do that safely."
   Although traffic studies will be performed, Mayor Pucci said the township has future plans to install a traffic signal at the intersection, but the studies will reaffirm the need for one.
   School board President Joe Homoki said that, while the new plan is not the "optimal plan," it will work.
   "This will be a win-win situation for everyone," he said.
   Board student representative John Ronan said the plan works, even if that means the schools will share facilities or the schools will have split assemblies.
   "You are getting the option to use the fields we have now. We break up for assemblies now — it works out now," John said.
   He also said that, now that the land in Thompson Park is available, the school should take advantage of it.
   Harold Pollack of Clearbrook, a school board candidate, opposed the last plan and believes he could support the new one. Now, he said, it is the responsibility of everyone to make sure it’s positively received by voters.
   "I think it’s the responsibility of everyone in the room to do more than what was done in the last referendum. We’ll do everything we can to make people change their minds," Mr. Pollack said.