The Marlboro K-8 School District Board of Education is considering placing a new referendum before voters on March 8, 2016.
On Nov. 3, voters in Marlboro overwhelmingly rejected a $46.5 million referendum that proposed spending $26.2 million on capital improvements and infrastructure upgrades throughout the district and $20.3 million to construct 28 classrooms and make other improvements at the David C. Abbott Early Learning Center.
Administrators said the improvements at the Abbott early learning center would have allowed the district to offer a full-day kindergarten program.
At a workshop meeting on Nov. 12, school board President Michael Lilonsky suggested four options going forward.
A straw poll was taken to gauge what projects board members may want to include in a new referendum question.
The options suggested by Lilonsky were the following:
A referendum proposing only the capital improvements and infrastructure upgrades at the Marlboro Elementary, DeFino, Dugan, Robertsville and Asher Holmes elementary schools, and at the Marlboro Middle School
A referendum addressing full-day kindergarten in some manner, but not including any capital improvements
Placing two questions before voters on the same ballot: one question proposing the previously sought capital improvements and infrastructure upgrades at district schools, and a second question proposing the construction of the new classrooms and other work at the early learning center
Not placing any referendum before voters.
When it came to a straw vote, Robyn Wolfe, Dara Enny, Debbie Mattos, Joanne Liu-Rudel and Lilonsky voted to ask residents to approve a referendum proposing the capital improvements and infrastructure upgrades.
Craig Marshall, BonnieSue Rosenwald and board Vice President Victoria Dean voted not to place a referendum before voters in March.
Board member Jian Kao was absent from the meeting.
The straw poll resulted in a decision to place a resolution on the Nov. 24 meeting agenda that will ask if the board members want to proceed with a referendum that only proposes the capital improvements and infrastructure upgrades.
“The capital improvement plan is something that really needs to be addressed,” Superintendent of Schools Eric Hibbs said.
Rosenwald, Marshall and Dean said the new board that will convene in January should be the people who discuss future plans for the district.
Rosenwald and Kao are leaving the board at the end of December.
“This board is currently at the end of its sitting life and two of us will not be here next year,” Rosenwald said. “I feel the new board that will be constituted in January should be the board discussing it and that they should be brought up to speed on everything this board has knowledge of. This board should not be making these decisions at this time.”
The board will hold its reorganization meeting on Jan. 5. Stephen Shifrinson and Ellen Wei Xu, who were elected on Nov. 3, will join the panel that evening.
Administrators said a decision to place a referendum before voters on March 8 must be made no later than 60 days prior to that election.
Lilonsky said plans for any work would have to go through the board’s construction committee and come back to the full board before a decision can be made.
“Repairs to the buildings are needed,” he said. “We cannot make a decision now because we do not have all the facts.”