By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
ROBBINSVILLE Unlike two years ago when the $39.6 million referendum to build a new school failed, municipal and school officials are apparently now on the same page in their support for the latest plan to address K-8 overcrowding.
At its Sept. 24 Board of Education meeting, school board members discussed plans to make a presentation to the mayor and Township Council this fall detailing the $18.98 million school expansion referendum that will be on the ballot Dec. 11.
”They want to show solidarity with us on the referendum,” board member Sharon DeVito said during the Sept. 24 discussion, referring to municipal officials.
”We’re certainly welcoming that,” replied board member Vincent Costanza.
The plan would add 29 classrooms to Sharon Elementary School and Pond Road Middle School and make other upgrades to those facilities.
The date of this public presentation has not been set, but it will be after the Nov. 6 general election for council and school board seats, and before the special Dec. 11 school referendum, board member Thomas Halm Jr. told his colleagues.
In a phone interview last week, Mayor Dave Fried said he supports the referendum because the school board has found a good solution to address overcrowding at a cost that is $20 million less than what the failed 2010 referendum proposed spending.
Mr. Fried said he is urging voters to support the referendum because without more classrooms and long-needed facility repairs at Sharon and Pond Road schools, “these two schools are going to be in serious trouble.”
”Property values will also go down if we don’t make the investment in our lower grades,” Mr. Fried said.
Homebuyers with young children often look at the quality of a school district in making a decision on where to buy, Mr. Fried said. This means even Robbinsville residents who no longer have students in the school system have a vested interest in maintaining quality K-8 schools because of the impact on their home values, he said.
Township Council President Ron Witt agreed, saying in a phone interview Monday night that a “unified Board of Education and Township Council” provides the referendum with its best chance for passage.
”There will be some short-term pain in terms of the school tax increase involved, but it’s in our residents’ best interest long-term for Robbinsville to have a top-notch school system that helps maintain our property values,” Mr. Witt said.
Municipal leaders and school board members have not always agreed on education spending priorities. In May 2010, before Mr. Witt was a council member, the governing body voted 3-2 to slash $506,000 from the voter-defeated school budget after a raucous municipal meeting attended by over 200 residents.
The council at the time recommended the school district fire several key administrators, including the high school athletic director and a middle school vice principal, to achieve the savings.
Mayor Fried and then-Council President Rich Levesque had also wanted the district to force the teachers to make contract concessions, something the school board said it could not do unless the teachers union agreed to reopen its contract.
The 2010 budget turmoil came two months after the referendum to build a new elementary school failed in a March 9, 2010 special election. An anonymous letter mailed to thousands of homes days before voters went to the polls urged residents to reject the referendum and was thought to have played a role in its ultimate defeat.

