Board approves expansion plans

Expansion and renovation to begin on five elementary schools.

By: Rebecca Tokarz
   The school board has unanimously approved preliminary plans to expand and renovate five elementary schools.
   The plans, approved Monday, call for additions and renovations including permanent built-in stages, a cafeteria for each school, floor-to-ceilings walls in classrooms for those that don’t have them, and additional classroom space, school officials said.
   In addition, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will be upgraded in multipurpose rooms and at the two middle schools.
   District officials said the plans could cost between $20 million and $30 million and the district expects state aid funding for the project.
   The district expects to receive a "little bit more than 20 percent" of the total cost of the referendum from the state, Assistant Superintendent for Business Jeff Scott said Wednesday.
   The plan will go the public in the form of a referendum, scheduled for December.
   "This plan will follow the goal of achieving parity among all the elementary schools," district architect Scott Spiezle said Monday.
   Mr. Spiezle of Spiezle and Associates Architects of Trenton presented the school board with conceptual drawings for renovations and additions to Brunswick Acres, Cambridge, Constable, Greenbrook and Monmouth Junction schools.
   The board’s facility committee will hold a special public meeting Tuesday at South Brunswick High School at 6 p.m. to discuss any feedback received since introducing the plans. Additions and alterations to the plans could be made based on public input. The board plans to hold public hearings and gain additional feedback before making a final approval in late June.
   Newer schools such as Indian Fields on Route 522, Brooks Crossing on Deans Rhode Hall Road near Route 130 and the high school on Ridge Road, will not be part of the proposed referendum. There are no plans to alter Dayton or Deans schools either, school officials said.
   Preliminary plans call for building an addition onto Brunswick Acres that will add four classrooms and a stage. The existing facility will see renovations to its media center, cafeteria, storage areas, as well as 13 regular classrooms, three classrooms for autistic students, seven small group instruction rooms.
   Six classrooms, a small group instruction room, a music room, an art room, a stage area, storage and restroom facilities will be build at Cambridge as part of an addition. The existing cafeteria and kitchen would be upgraded. The heating, air conditioning and ventilation system would be replaced.
   Constable would get six additional classrooms, a music room, an art room, along with a multipurpose room, a stage, cafeteria, kitchen, storage areas and restrooms as part of its addition. The proposal calls for upgrades to be made in the existing cafeteria and kitchen. The HVAC system will be replaced.
   An addition to Greenbrook would mean five additional classrooms, art and music classrooms, a stage, multipurpose room which can be used as a gym, cafeteria, kitchen, faculty room, nurse’s room, storage rooms and restrooms. The proposals call for the elimination of the school’s "pit," a gymnasium, and replacing it with a media center. Four classrooms and four small group instructional rooms will be altered under the plan in addition to a kindergarten classroom, main office, principal and counselor’s office.
   An addition to Monmouth Junction would add a cafeteria, kitchen, music and art rooms, storage space and restrooms. Eight classrooms, four small group instruction room, media center, main office, principal and vice principal offices, faculty room, storage areas, restrooms and HVAC will be upgraded.
   Mr. Scott said the plans could change based on feedback from the public and each school’s administration.
   "This is a very preliminary proposal," he said.
   This will be the second bond referendum brought to the public in the last five years. In 1999, voters approved a $46.99 million plan to build Brooks Crossing, which opened in September; a 120,000-square-foot addition to the high school; upgrade what is now called the Crossroads South Middle School campus on Major Road and convert the Upper Elementary School on Georges Road into another middle school. An addition also was placed on the building.
   The proposed expansion and renovation plans would help the district cope with an expected increase in student enrollment in the coming years.
   "We’re not trying to hit a specific number," said Mr. Scott. "Since 1999, the west side of town is turning over rapidly because of economic conditions — mortgage rates are low and sales are up."
   According to a demographic report conducted in November, the district can expect an additional 650 students at the elementary school level by the 2006-2007 school year.
   Currently, 4,019 students are enrolled in the district’s eight elementary schools. The study shows the district should expect 4,617 in grades K-5 by 2006-2007.
   In addition, the district has placed trailers at Greenbrook, Constable and Brunswick Acres. In March, the school board approved the purchase of one used, double-wide portable trailer for $45,000 to help with increasing enrollment at the school at Greenbrook which, at 451 students, is 50 more than the district anticipated. The trailer will be in place by September.
   Resident Joan Puchalski agreed upgrades are needed at the elementary schools, but said the proposed plans would not totally eliminate projected enrollment problems because the middle schools were not considered for additional classroom space.
   "We may be trying to solve the problems at the elementary schools, but what about the middle school level," she said.
   Board member Barry Nathanson said dealing with enrollment was the purpose of the plan.
   "The main purpose of this is to make sure we get rid of the trailers," he said.
   Mr. Scott said future plans could address the grade 6-8 level if it is needed at some point.
   "There may be a point in the future that we’ll look at the middle schools and move from there," he said.