ROBBINSVILLE: BOE vote starts referendum countdown

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   ROBBINSVILLE — The Board of Education has made it official by voting to set a Dec. 11 election on a $18,979,967 referendum to pay for classroom additions and facility upgrades at Sharon Elementary School and Pond Road Middle School.
   The price tag of adding 29 classrooms, a gym at Sharon, and more cafeteria space at both schools is less than half the cost of the $39.6 million referendum for a new stand-alone school building and other upgrades that voters rejected in 2010.
   Overcrowding in grades K-8 has worsened since the 2010 referendum was defeated, according to school district officials. The middle and elementary schools are currently 332 students over these buildings’ intended capacity.
   ”People say, ‘Is there a need for classroom space?’ Board of Education member Thomas Halm Jr. said during the board’s Sept. 24 discussion of the referendum. “Well, when you’re using hallways and closets as your classrooms, which we are using currently at both of those buildings, that’s pretty bad.”
   If voters approve the referendum Dec. 11, the school tax rate is projected to increase 4.8 cents, or $48 per $100 in assessed value, Schools Superintendent Steve Mayer said Monday. That works out to $192 a year more in school taxes for a Robbinsville home assessed at $400,000.
   As of Oct. 1, there are 2,929 students in the Robbinsville School District, which includes 917 at the K-3 Sharon School; 1,109 at Pond Road Middle School; and 882 at Robbinsville High School, Dr. Mayer said. (The remaining 21 students are out-of-district placements).
   The overcrowding at the K-8 level now will only be exacerbated by the arrival of a projected 335 new students from already approved housing developments in Robbinsville that have not yet broken ground, board members said last week.
   The bond referendum would provide the funds to add a two-story addition with 24 classrooms at Sharon, a full-size gym, and additional cafeteria/kitchen space so the K-3 school could become a K-4 building in September 2014.
   This major expansion of Sharon School would allow the district to accommodate expected enrollment growth; return fourth-graders from Pond to Sharon; eliminate the modular classrooms on the lawn at Sharon; and keep all kindergarten classes in one building. Currently, there are seven kindergarten classes at Sharon and three across town at the Windsor School.
   By returning Pond Road’s fourth-graders to Sharon, the district hopes to be able to reduce the number of students in the middle school building to between 900 and 950. Although there are now 1,109 students at Pond, its core facilities (cafeteria, gym, etc.) were designed for 800 students and the building’s “instructional capacity” (a state formula based on square footage) is 914 students.
   The plans for Pond Road Middle School include converting some space in the media center into five new classrooms and expanding the cafeteria/kitchen. If the referendum passes, the five new classrooms are expected to be ready by Sept. 2013.
   The Board of Education plans to hold two community meetings for residents to ask questions about the referendum. These are scheduled for 7 p.m., Nov. 12 at Pond Road Middle School and 7 p.m., Nov. 26 at Sharon Elementary School.
   The school board also plans to give a presentation about the referendum to the mayor and Township Council sometime in mid-November or early December, but the date has not yet been scheduled.
Windsor School
appraiser hired
   The school board also approved other resolutions Sept. 24 related to the referendum. These included a $7,200 professional services contract for an appraiser to estimate the market value of the 103-year-old Windsor School, which could be sold to help pay down debt service on the planned school construction projects.
   Mr. Halm said the appraiser, Otteau Valuation Group of East Brunswick, will estimate the value of two lots that comprise the Windsor School property under current zoning, and what the value would be if the zoning were changed. Both lots are owned by the school district and are located in the Historic District-1 Zone.
   Depending on the appraisal, “…we could make a decision on whether to seek changes in zoning in order to make the most out of the property and directly decrease the cost to the district and the taxpayers of this referendum,” Mr. Halm said.
   Mr. Halm stressed the Board of Education was not contemplating seeking drastic zoning changes that would be “detrimental” to the Village of Windsor.
   ”It’s a historic building in a historic neighborhood,” Mr. Halm said. “We want to be a good neighbor to the people of Windsor.”
ESIPs help cut
referendum cost
   In other action, the school board authorized Spiezle Architectural Group, to submit separate Energy Savings Improvement Plans (ESIPs) for all school buildings (except Windsor) to the state for approval.
   The ESIPs will enable the district to make $3.6 million in energy-efficient improvements, such as replacing the aging boilers at Sharon School, through a 15-year lease-purchase program paid for using the annual energy savings the district realizes from these projects.
   School Business Administrator Bob DeVita said the new boilers alone are expected to cost $400,000 or more.
   Using ESIPs to pay eligible energy-related facility projects, instead of rolling their cost into the Dec. 11 referendum, enabled the district to reduce the referendum’s price tag by about $1 million, board members said.
   The ESIP with Honeywell Building Solutions was previously approved by the board July 31, but was redone as three separate ESIPs — one per school building — at the Sept. 24 BOE meeting as per state requirements.
   The board also approved a resolution to pay Spiezle $214,126 for design work associated with the ESIPs. The architect’s fees are being paid for through the deferred energy savings associated with the ESIP, not the referendum or the current operating budget, board members said.