PRINCETON: School bond vote Monday

By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
   The Board of Education urged Princetonians at its Sept. 18 meeting to vote on the $10.98 million bond referendum on Monday, which is designated for school building improvements and upgrades throughout the district.
   The board estimated the impact on the average assessed home in the district would be less than $150 a year.
   The projects have already been approved by the state Department of Education and focus on upgrading deteriorating buildings, improving energy efficiencies and repurposing spaces within the schools.
   Board president Tim Quinn opened the meeting by thanking his colleagues for being active in the community in discussing the details of the referendum and reminded everyone to check their sample ballots for their designated polling place.
   During the second public comment, only one member of the public came before the meeting to ask the board why the referendum did not include the old Valley Road School building.
   ”It hasn’t been renovated, but it’s owned by the school system and it’s a responsibility of yours as a community asset,” said Kip Cherry, president of the Valley Road School Community Center Inc., a group that wants to turn the building into a community center.
   She proposed that the board sell the building to her nonprofit organization for $1 so they could renovate the building themselves, but Business Administrator Stephanie Kennedy said the municipality was the only entity that could purchase it.
   School Superintendent Judy Wilson reminded the public that the board made a decision not to invest any money into the building until 2013 when Princeton is consolidated.
   The board has resorted to the referendum after Gov. Chris Christie’s budget cuts two years ago.
   ”We lost a significant amount of money that the board worked hard to stash away for this kind of capital maintenance,” said board member Dorothy Bedford on Tuesday. “In order to maintain the facilities, we have to step up and fund them.”
   About 36 percent of the projects would zero in on making all six schools more sustainable by replacing aging roofs, installing new energy efficient windows, updated lighting technology and window shading louvers where needed in each building.
   Not far behind, 27 percent of the funds would be slated for enhancing the students’ learning environment via technology infrastructure, wireless connectivity and other control system upgrades throughout the district.
   In the John Witherspoon Middle School, the board plans to turn the old gym into a media center, give the auditorium new seating and sound and lighting systems and install air conditioning on the second floor.
   To maintain and improve safety of staff and students, the board also plans to replace the track, turf and bleachers at the high school, refurbish practice fields, install an emergency generator at the middle school and make security upgrades at all the schools.
   Other projects include brick repointing, water proofing, gym floor replacements and paving.
   More information on the Sept. 24 bond referendum can be found on the district’s website www.princetonk12.org, which also lists polling locations. It also provides the exact upgrades each school would receive.