School officials, who plan to present a September referendum for the construction of a new Memorial Elementary School in East Brunswick, have been working to scale back the cost of the facility.
Board of Education President Todd Simmens said the cost has come down a bit, and officials continue to seek ways of reducing it further, though he did not give a figure for the cost. Patricia LaDuca, director of community relations and programs for the school district, said no cost figure is available yet, since the board has yet to officially authorize the referendum.
She said there will be a discussion of the Memorial School at the board’s July 9 meeting, and the architect will be on hand to present the latest plans.
Jim Johnson, president of the Memorial School PTA, said he believes the price may be just below $20 million at this point. Johnson said he was among those attending a recent meeting with district officials, employees and a handful of residents.
“They were the first ones to see the plans and the costs,” Johnson said, adding that the school district plans to unveil the information to the community at large in early July.
Johnson, who was initially critical of the district’s handling of the Memorial School situation after a July 2008 fire rendered the school uninhabitable, said he now supports the current plan. He said he is convinced that it would not be worthwhile to simply fix what is left of the old school.
Simmens said a referendum is being planned for September, and if it fails, a second one could be held in December. If that is also voted down, the decision could wind up in the hands of the state Department of Education. That is not an option the district favors, however.
“There probably would not be a quick turnaround time there,” Simmens said.
The cost of the referendum will be defrayed by an expected $4.2 million grant from the state.
The Memorial Elementary School, Innes Road, has been in disrepair since a fire caused extensive damage there on July 10, 2008. Police have been investigating the fire, which they termed suspicious, but no arrests have been made.
School officials considered renovating the 53- year-old school building, but said asbestos, soot and chemicals at the site would make it nearly impossible to bring it up to code. Rebuilding the school, officials said, would cost millions more than the cost of building a new one.
Since September, Memorial’s 394 students have been housed temporarily at the former Corpus Christi School in South River. The school board, through a two-year lease agreement, is paying $60,493 per month to lease the building and grounds. It is expected that the district will continue to use this location until the new school is built. Officials are hoping that its insurance company will cover the rental costs, which have been included in the school budget for the time being.
The school district has had a committee in place to plan for the future of the Memorial school and seek input from residents, Simmens said.
If the referendum is approved in September, the project would likely begin next January with the demolition of the old Memorial building, and the new facility would be built to open by September 2012 in the same vicinity as the old school.
Johnson said he wants to raise support among residents for the passage of the referendum. He said the district would not only get a new school, but also a substantial amount of money from the state to help pay for it. He noted that it costs about $60,000 per month to rent the former Corpus Christi School, and if the referendum goes down, the amount of rental time will only increase.
“The longer we fight it, the more it will cost,” he said, adding that inflation could drive up the price.
Johnson noted that even if the referendum is approved in September, it would still be a matter of months before the district could go out to bid. “… If all goes smooth, 2012 is when the school opens,” he said.
“If you fail twice, it goes to the state, which has a lot of time to say ‘Build it or trim the cost,’ ” he said. The building plans have already been approved by the state, Simmens said.
According to the school board’s timeline, the referendumand specific bond question will be authorized in July, and numerous public forums will be held in August and September to make the public aware of the situation and the upcoming vote.
Simmens said the school would be built to house the current and projected future enrollments. He said the old school building did not have the necessary square footage.
Johnson said the neighborhood misses having a local school.
“At the end of the day, it is best to get the kids back in this neighborhood,” he said.