By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
ROBBINSVILLE Voters will have their say Tuesday on a $39.6 million referendum to finance a new elementary school to ease overcrowding and make improvements to two other local schools.
If the referendum is approved, the average homeowner in the township would pay $360 in additional taxes per year, according to district officials.
If it does not, the district plans to expand its use of modular classrooms to house the nearly 750 additional students it expects to see by the 2013-14 school year.
District officials say they need a new K-5 elementary school because Sharon Elementary and Pond Road Middle schools are overcrowded with 110 students being taught in modular classrooms outside Sharon.
On top of that, a demographic report released in summer 2009 showed the need to house nearly 750 students in a new school by 2013 with districtwide enrollment jumping to about 3,400 for the K-12 district.
The referendum calls for $33.2 million for a new 90,000 square-foot elementary school with the capacity to serve 850 students on the grounds of Pond Road school.
The rest of the money would go toward improvements at Sharon School addressing ventilation, lighting, flooring and ceiling concerns and roof renovations and a reconfiguration of the parking lot at Pond Road.
The project would be paid for though bonding, which would be paid back over 15 to 20 years, according to Superintendent Steve Mayer.
Polls are scheduled to be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. Voters may cast ballots, depending on which district they live in, at Robbinsville High School, the township firehouse on Route 130, the Pond Road Middle School, the Rose Hill Community Room on Washington Boulevard or the Robbinsville library on Robbinsville-Allentown Road.
