Ceremony to mark groundbreaking for new high school

Date set for June 7 at site on Ward Avenue

By: Vanessa S. Holt
   BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — A groundbreaking ceremony for the new high school on Ward Avenue is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 7, said Bordentown Regional School District Superintendent John Polomano this week.
   Last year voters approved a $47 million bond referendum which includes funds for construction of the 191,000-square-foot school on 70 acres of land on Ward Avenue across from Peter Muschal Elementary School and the renovation of the four existing school buildings.
   A total of $37.4 million will be raised through taxes and $9.6 million will be provided by the state.
   The new Bordentown Regional High School building will open in 2005, Mr. Polomano said. The date construction begins will depend on several factors, including final township approval of the building plans and weather conditions, he said.
   A new high school is needed because the student population is expected to swell to 2,500 by 2005. The district currently has about 2,100 students. Officials said last year the high school population is projected to increase from about 600 to 920, the number of students the new building will be able to accommodate.
   Also included in the building project are improvements to the two elementary schools, middle school and current high school building, which will become a middle school for grades six through eight after the new high school opens.
   Clara Barton and Peter Muschal elementary schools, which currently serve grades kindergarten through six, will become K-3 schools, and MacFarland Junior High School, which currently serves grade seven and eight, will become an upper elementary school, housing grades four and five.
   Construction on projects at the middle and elementary schools, including air conditioning installation, will begin this summer, said Mr. Polomano.
   "It’s all going according to schedule and budget," he said.