WEST AMWELL: South to ask voters to OK K-12 study funding

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   WEST AMWELL — Should three local elementary school districts join with South Hunterdon Regional High School to create one K-12 district?
   That question has been floating among the districts for many years.
   The state, certainly, has been nudging schools around the state in that direction, hoping to cut costs.
   But whether the districts themselves and citizens agree or not, the first step in knowing whether it could work is to commission a feasibility study, school officials said.
   Before that can happen, there must be available funds to pay for the study.
   Grant funding was available at one time, but South Hunterdon did not qualify because of its smaller size, Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg said.
   Now South Hunterdon will got to the taxpayers, asking them to authorize the expenditure of up to $50,000 in tax dollars to finance the study.
   ”We have proposals in hand and they’re feasible,” board member Dan Seiter said. “It certainly seems like the right time to move forward.”
   The district received five proposals, and three of them are considered affordable.
   ”We have three in the batch that could satisfy our needs,” Mr. Seiter said. Two of the proposals are more expensive and are not being considered.
   South Hunterdon’s Board of Education agreed last week to put the question on the ballot during the April 27 election.
   If voters approve the expense, a feasibility study would report on whether it makes sense to combine the three elementary districts — Lambertville Public School, West Amwell Elementary School and the Stockton Borough School — with South Hunterdon.
   Board members voted unanimously to put it to voters as a separate ballot question, rather than include the expense in the school’s budget.
   Voting in favor were President Robert Campbell, Vice President Nicole Claus, Cheryl Carpenter, Marie Collins, Celeste Mosby, Laurie Weinstein and Dan Seiter.
   Mr. Seiter cast his vote by phone. Boyd Hartpence and Donald Vandegrift were absent.
   The study will be a ballot question for South Hunterdon only. It will not be included on any of the elementary schools’ ballots.
   If voters approve the expense, all three sending districts would share the cost.
   Mr. Seiter said all three of the sending districts support the study.