The Marlboro K-8 School District Board of Education will place a $46.5 million construction referendum in front of voters on Nov. 3.
If the referendum is approved, an addition will be constructed at the David C. Abbot Early Learning Center, Tennent Road, Marlboro, and the school district will move from a half-day kindergarten program to a full-day kindergarten program.
The referendum also includes funding for infrastructure upgrades at other Marlboro schools. District administrators said the cost of the work cannot be accounted for in the district’s regular operating budget.
Work at the early learning center will cost $20.3 million, according to information provided by the board. The district would construct a 28-classroom addition, and each classroom would have a restroom.
The school would accommodate all of Marlboro’s kindergarten pupils for a fullday schedule.
Plans at the early learning center also call for the construction of a new cafeteria/ multipurpose room and the renovation of the school’s existing common areas.
Other work, amounting to $26.2 million, would take place at the Frank Defino Central Elementary School, Frank J. Dugan Elementary School, Marlboro Elementary School, Robertsville Elementary School, Asher Holmes Elementary School and the Marlboro Middle School.
Those six schools would have their exterior windows, fire alarm systems and temperature control panels, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems replaced in all classrooms and offices, according to the board. The Defino, Dugan, Marlboro Elementary and Asher Holmes schools would have HVAC units replaced in the gyms and the Dugan and Asher Holmes schools would have HVAC units replaced in the cafeterias.
Defino, Dugan, Marlboro Middle School and Robertsville would have electrical boards and feeders replaced.
Marlboro Elementary, Asher Holmes and Robertsville would have boilers, pumps and expansion tanks replaced.
Marlboro Elementary and Robertsville would each receive a new main switchboard and Marlboro Middle School would receive a new electric generator.
According to information posted on the school district’s website, “The district’s existing debt will be entirely eliminated in July 2019. That being said, in order to minimize the impact (of the referendum) to the taxpayers, the district plans to issue the new bonds in two phases.
“Presently, on an average assessed home of $465,000, the tax impact for existing debt service is approximately $306. This will not change until the fourth year of the bonds.
“In budget year 2019-20, when all the debt will begin to be paid back, there will be a slight increase of approximately $80 for that year. In future years, the tax impact will decrease approximately $175. This is based on an average assessed home of $465,000,” according to the website.
Superintendent of Schools Eric Hibbs said that without the passage of the referendum, a full-day kindergarten program will be next to impossible to offer.
“There is no other way to physically do this unless we raise class sizes, which we do not like to talk about in Marlboro because it is bad for the children and their learning,” Hibbs said.
“All of the buildings in our district need work,” board President Michael Lilonsky said. “We are taking a long-term, fiscally prudent approach to renovating each of our school buildings. The magnitude of these projects far exceeds what we could complete using general district operating funds. These upgrades and renovations will take the district into the foreseeable future at a minimal additional cost.”
“It is absolutely time to address our priority projects,” Hibbs said. “The projects we are addressing are the most important facilities issues existing in Marlboro. Our district has heard from community members consistently over the past several years regarding the importance of full-day kindergarten. It is a reality that (the referendum) may not pass. At the end of the day, we can say this board did their do diligence by trying.”
The board will hold information sessions regarding the referendum from 7-8:30 p.m. Oct. 22 and Oct. 26 at the Marlboro Middle School, 355 Route 520.
Following a brief presentation, residents can speak with the architect, engineer and district administrators. Architectural drawings of the proposed additions and renovations will be available for viewing.
“Our first open house generated great questions and a dialogue with residents, Hibbs said. “I believe we demonstrated that we did our homework and that the need for upgrades to our infrastructure is significant. For example, few residents realized many of our building’s systems are original to our schools – most more than 40 years old. With proper maintenance they have far exceeded their useful life, but it is time to replace these systems with more energy-efficient reliable systems for the next 40 to 50 years.”
Complete referendum information is available on the district’s website at www.marlboro.k12.nj.us. Questions regarding the referendum can be emailed to [email protected].