North Brunswick residents should prepare to answer the $32.4 million question.
On Jan. 25, the school district will hold a bond referendum on whether or not to expand its four elementary schools and Linwood Middle School. The district will host an Information Night on Tuesday for the public to discuss the plan with district officials and the project architect.
School officials have made a few key arguments for the expansion, among them:
• The township’s school-age population is growing, and the facilities are not. Classroom and faculty space is scarce to the point where programs like Spanish and music are being taught off carts. They also report that 807 of 2,445 elementary school students are taught in a trailer or converted storage space.
• By approving the expansion now, the township can count on $7.6 million in state aid, or about a quarter of the project’s total cost.
• The project takes into account the future needs for unfinished housing developments like Governor’s Pointe on Route 1 and Renaissance on Route 130. Officials estimate the expansion would meet the district’s needs through the 2009-10 school year.
Another school of thought growing throughout the township considers this plan a Band-Aid, and calls for a longer-term approach. These voices say it would be better to build one or more new schools, a move that would alleviate the costs of busing students across town and make these crowded schools spacious again by thinning out their student bodies.
Voters should also ask school officials next week to elaborate on the future costs of the Jan. 25 referendum. The district will need to hire people to fill these new classrooms — the questions are how many and what kind of tax hikes will be needed to pay for them over the next few years?
It is our civic obligation to provide education as good or better than we had, but it is also our right to decide if the district’s decision makers are heading in the right direction. We strongly encourage residents to attend Tuesday’s meeting and decide for themselves if this investment is best for the township.