Second question on artificial-turf fields narrowly OK’d
By: Emily Craighead
A junior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Danielle Prima won’t be around when the new auditorium, gymnasium and weight room are built, but she was still celebrating Wednesday, the day after voters in West Windsor and Plainsboro approved the district’s $27.5 million facilities referendum.
"I think the future of all the South students will be better now that the facility is going to be improved," Danielle said.
An athlete tired of the poor quality of indoor workout space at the high school, Danielle worked with members of the Citizens Referendum Team, putting up fliers and making phone calls Monday night to remind people to vote. Renovations at High School South account for $19 million.
The $25.2 million base question passed by a comfortable margin in both townships, with 63.8 percent of Plainsboro voters and 66.3 percent of West Windsor voters favoring the referendum.
Voters were less certain about the need for artificial-turf fields at the high schools, however, according to results for the second question. With "yes" votes from just 51 percent of voters in each township, athletes will get their fields. Passage of the $2.3 million bond proposal for the fields was contingent upon approval of the first question.
"I’m very happy," Board of Education President Hemant Marathe said. "The administration worked very hard to put together a reasonable referendum."
The Administration and Facilities Committee has begun developing a construction timeline, and will present it to the full board in February.
Before school resumes in the fall, new walls will partition off open classrooms in West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, and work will have begun on heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems at some of the district’s high schools, according to Mr. Marathe. Detailed plans for major projects such as the auditorium at High School South will require state approval.
It will take between three and five years to complete all of the projects, Mr. Marathe said.
The district likely will issue temporary notes, and when the projects are completed, issue 25-year bonds, according to Carolyn Eversole, business administrator.
District officials said the referendum would have no impact on school taxes. New bonds will be issued as old bonds are retired, keeping the debt-service portion of the budget at its current level.
The district is expecting about $6.9 million in state aid, either in the form of grants or debt-service aid.
Annually, the district budget includes between $1 million and $2 million for capital improvements enough for security, technology and parking lot repaving needs, but not enough for a larger projects, district officials have said.
The renovations at High School South include:
creation of five closed classroom spaces;
an auditorium with support spaces, lobby area, bathrooms and scenery construction shop;
renovations to music classrooms, performing-arts classrooms and spaces;
a gymnasium and auxiliary gymnasium with indoor and outdoor storage, separate gym lobby with bathrooms, accessible from indoors and outdoors;
a new trainer’s room, weight room and office for the athletic director;
an outdoor pool enclosure;
additional partition walls for open classrooms;
renovations to locker rooms, coaches’ offices and instructors’ offices;
expansion and renovation of parking lots; and
modernization of handicap accessibility.
At Dutch Neck Elementary School, which opened in 1917, $4.11 million in projects are on the table. Those projects are a six-classroom addition, including two dividable rooms, renovations to small group room instructional spaces, and renovations to the ventilation system in the main building and in the modular classroom addition.
Wicoff Elementary School, which dates back to 1919, will receive renovations to second-floor classrooms and the modular classroom addition ventilation system at a cost of $663,761.
Maurice Hawk Elementary School, built in 1964, is slated for $1.04 million in projects including renovations for English as a second language and speech classrooms, a teachers’ workroom and the guidance area. Renovations would also be made to the modular classroom addition, with replacement of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.
At High School North, built in 1997, about $400,000 will be used to create laboratory space in existing classrooms.
The artificial-turf fields in the $2.3 million second question will allow better use of the athletic fields, making them available to varsity teams as well as physical education classes and community events, district officials said.