Steven Wolock, Lambertville Public School; Robert Campbell, South Hunterdon Regional High School; Jim Gallagher, Stockton Borough School; and Rob Tomenchok, West Amwell Elementary School.
On April 27, residents of Lambertville, Stockton, and West Amwell will be asked to fund a feasibility study, which will examine the pros and cons of school district regionalization — the unification of our four local school districts into a single PreK-12 school district that would serve students from our three communities.
Before regionalization can occur, a thorough feasibility study is required. The study will provide a realistic understanding of the educational and financial benefits and disadvantages of regionalization. A professional firm will study enrollment data and projections, educational planning, fiscal information including the impact on property taxes, facilities, the effect of regionalization or consolidation on existing schools, legal considerations, and other areas. Performing this study is necessary to determine the real effect of regionalization on our property taxes and on the educational programs at our schools.
Earlier this year, members of the four local districts worked together to solicit bids from companies that specialize in this type of analysis. Five bids were received, indicating that a thorough study of this complex issue could be conducted for $50,000 or less.
To fund the feasibility study, a special question will be included on the ballot during the April 27 school election. It will ask voters in the three communities to authorize spending up to $50,000 to pay for the feasibility study. If the measure passes, taxpayers will see a modest one-year increase in their property taxes. This payment will be only one time, not a recurring expense, and will be about $13 to $18 per home assessed at average value in each community.
Discussions about regionalization have come up numerous times over the years, usually in response to two concerns: looking for ways to improve the educational integration between the four schools — Lambertville, Stockton, and West Amwell elementary schools and South Hunterdon Regional High School — and ways to make the most efficient use of our tax dollars.
Regionalization will result in major changes. This process does not involve the merging or assimilation of one or more existing districts into another. Instead, should the feasibility study indicate that regionalization will deliver fiscal and educational benefits, and if the move is subsequently approved by all boards as well as a majority of voters in all four current districts, those districts would be dissolved and a completely new entity created.
We, the undersigned, are members of the four local boards of education. However, we act as taxpayers and registered voters when we encourage you to vote yes on the April 27 ballot question. Each of our districts currently share services and cooperate in order to keep our operating expenses down and reduce the burden on taxpayers. Performing this study is the only way to determine whether even greater efficiencies may be found through consolidation/regionalization of the school districts in southern Hunterdon County. Such long-term savings would more than offset the one-time tax hit to local households.

