By: Stephanie Prokop
CHESTERFIELDThe school board unveiled plans May 30 for a $35 million school that would be located on Steeplechase Way, a street that would be in a new development in Old York Village.
The tract being eyed for the school is known as the Wilkinson Farm.
The school would be constructed if a third referendum passes on Dec. 11. The school would open its doors in September 2010.
This will be the school board’s third attempt to gain voter approval to build a new elementary school. In December 2003 voters defeated a $17.5 million referendum under which taxpayers would have been responsible for $14 million of the cost; in December 2005 voters defeated a $19.5 million referendum under which taxpayers would have been responsible for $16 million.
The May 30 meeting, attended by about 30 residents largely in support of the proposal, featured two presentations. One analyzed how many elementary school-age children are expected attend the school system once Old York Village is completed. The other displayed plans for the proposed 114,000-square-foot school.
The demographer’s presentation showed that although Chesterfield Elementary School now has an enrollment of 367 students, once the remaining 901 Old York Village houses are complete, that enrollment number is expected to jump to 931.
Construction on the houses has already begun, and is expected to be complete in 2012, with a total of 1,100 units.
Craig Thier, Board of Education president, said the 27-acre Wilkinson Farm tract off Old York Road is still under consideration, but the price of the land has not yet been finalized.
David Fraytak, of Faridy, Veisz, and Fraytak P.C., a Trenton architectural firm, said the proposed school would have six classrooms for each grade level. Kindergarten, first, second, and third-grade classrooms would have a capacity of 21 students each, while grades four through six would have a capacity of 23 students each, said Mr. Fraytak.
Other parts of the school would feature a secure entry point, at which employees in the main office could see exactly who is entering the school building, as well as district offices that would be located right across the hall from the main office.
The gymnasium and cafeteria would be significantly bigger than those of the current Chesterfield Elementary School, and would allow for recreational use of various sports and club usage after hours.
The gymnasium would also feature a dividing curtain, which would enable two separate gym classes to be going on at once.
As for the location of the classrooms in the school, Mr. Fraytak explained that it would be comprised of three levels, which would appear from the front of the school as two levels, due to the slight downhill grade the property has toward the back of it.
The school would have two art and music rooms, which would enable the lower grades to receive art and music education in a designated room. The current system has "art on a cart," where a teacher brings the programs to their primary classrooms.
The school would include an "introductory science room" which would introduce students to various curricula that would be similar to what they would encounter at the middle and high school level.
As for transportation, parents picking up students and buses for students would be separated for safety reasons.
"Another advantage to having the school built on the Wilkinson property is that it will be in the heart of the village, which is planned to focus on a walking village," explained Mr. Fraytak.
After Mr. Fraytak finished explaining the school pans, he presented another school building blueprint one that would be approximately 101,000 square feet.
One advantage would be that the school building would have a smaller price tag, although Mr. Thier estimated it would be about $32.5 million instead of the $35 million of the first proposed building.
After viewing the statistics, many members of the audience, including members of the grassroots Chesterfield GREEN team, (which stands for Growing Together, Reaching Educational Excellence Now) asked questions as to when their taxes would be adjusted, and what the $35 million figure would include.
Mr. Their said that the figure includes the school construction, and the site development, but the land (which is still in the negotiations process) will not be included in the price tag. The amount of the total to be raised by taxation is not yet known, he said. He said they would seek state aid but did not know how much they might receive.
Many members of the audience voiced their support for the school board to "push ahead" with the larger school.
The proposed elementary school plans are similar to Mansfield Elementary School, and some parents thought it may be a good idea to invite community members to Mansfield to see what kind of facilities Chesterfield may be building.
Mr. Thier said if the referendum is passed, taxpayers would not be seeing any adjustment in their school tax bill until 2009. There is no information currently available on how much school tax rates would be effected.
Blueprint designs of both of the proposed school buildings will be available on the Chesterfield Elementary School Web site.

