MONROE The projected opening of a proposed new high school will be pushed back a year if the Board of Education does not receive the deed to the proposed Thompson Park school site by Sept. 26.
By: William Greenwood
MONROE The projected opening of a proposed new high school will be pushed back a year if the Board of Education does not receive the deed to the proposed Thompson Park school site by Sept. 26.
Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said Wednesday that possession of the deed is necessary to allow the school board to hold a December referendum for the increased cost of the proposed building and a possible expansion proposal.
Dr. Ferrie also offered several options for the referendum, which the district hopes to hold on Dec. 11. All the options include asking voters to approve a Dec. 11 referendum for about $36 million, which is the difference between the current cost estimate for the building and the $82.9 million approved for the building by voters in 2003. The board will have to decide whether to include the cost of increasing the building’s size currently planned for 365,000 square feet in a referendum, as well.
If the board does not have ownership of the Thompson Park parcel by Sept. 26, the board would have to delay a referendum until at least March 11, which also would delay the school’s originally projected fall 2011 opening until the fall of 2012, Dr. Ferrie said.
Acquisition of the 35-acre site, which is owned by Middlesex County and protected by state Green Acres rules, hinges on approval by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Under a plan conditionally approved by the Statehouse Commission, the county would trade the park parcel for 175 undeveloped acres owned by Monroe Township. The township would then give the park parcel to the school district.
The DEP is reviewing archeological studies of the site to determine whether Presbyterian missionary David Brainerd’s 18th-century Bethel Mission, a Lenni-Lenape community, was located there. The Lenni-Lenape was an American Indian tribe.
Dr. Ferrie said that one option would be to ask voters to approve a December referendum covering the additional costs of the current plan and the cost of making the proposed building larger.
The board is considering enlarging the proposed building because a new demographics report, completed Aug. 15 by Kinnelon-based Whitehall Associates, shows the district could have 2,125 high school students in the 2011-2012 school year. The proposed high school would accommodate only 1,800 students under the current plans, but the district could add a two- or three-floor story that would increase the capacity to 2,200 or 2,400 students, Dr. Ferrie said.
However, educational specifications and schematics for changes would need to be reviewed by the state Department of Education before the district would be allowed to include it in the referendum. Jim Morton, an architect with New Brunswick-based Design Ideas Group who created the original plans, said Wednesday that he did not think approval would be received by the deadline for a referendum question to be approved. He said the Department of Education generally requires 90 days to review specifications and schematics.
The board also could ask voters to approve additional money so that it can build the school as currently designed, Dr. Ferrie said. A January cost estimate from Epic Management, of Piscataway, placed the cost at about $119 million, an increase of $36 million over the figure already approved by voters. Officials say land swap delays and increases in the price of material and wages are responsible. Dr. Ferrie said a new cost estimate is needed before the board could approve a referendum question, which must happen at least 60 days before a vote.
If it opts for this route, Dr. Ferrie said, the board could then choose to monitor student enrollment over the next 12 to 18 months so that it has a better idea of how big the addition should be before sending a request to voters.
The board will discuss the options at its Sept. 10 meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the Monroe Township High School. Joseph Richardson, of Whitehall Associates, will be on hand to discuss the demographic report.

