The Board of Education is considering options to expand the Cranbury School that could cost between $8.4 million and $8.9 million.
By: Casha Caponegro
The Board of Education is considering options to expand the Cranbury School that could cost between $8.4 million and $8.9 million.
The plans were presented Tuesday night by Vice Principal Carol Malouf, architect Allan Kehrt and Bob Pasquale, a representative of Bovis Lend Lease, the firm that would be responsible for management of the project. The presentation detailed the growing need for expansion within the school and the time and cost necessary to provide it.
The Cranbury School is currently suffering from overcrowded conditions, which will grow worse as student enrollment increases. In the next three years, there will be over 30 additional students attending the school.
The administration proposed an expansion plan that would include a new gym facility and five to seven additional classrooms. This additon is set to cost between $8.4 and $8.9 million.
Although the board was receptive to the plans presented, they were hesitant to go ahead with such a large-scale project without consent from the community.
The Cranbury School originally opened in 1896. The portion of the school that now houses classrooms and the Cranbury Public Library was completed in 1968 and underwent several additions, including a 1997 expansion that included new industrial arts rooms.
The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade.
Armed with slides and statistics from a recent demographic report by University Associates, Ms. Malouf explained the lack of adequate space within the school over the next three years.
"Our purpose is to show how many rooms will be needed to provide the same level of education to students and maintain what we currently offer," said Chief School Administrator Robert Bartoletti prior to Ms. Malouf’s presentation.
Ms. Malouf said the current conditions at the school have begun to hinder its level of excellence.
"We have begun to use spaces in the building for uses that they were not intended for," she said in her presentation. "We would need three more classrooms right now for the building to be used as it was intended."
Using numbers provided by the demographic study, Ms, Malouf also said the increase in student enrollment over the next two years will only add to the shortage of classrooms.
There are currently 578 students at the Cranbury School today. According to the study, enrollment will increase to 604 students by 2003 and 612 students in 2004.
Allan Kehrt, of KSS Architects and also a township Planning Board member, presented two possible options for the school addition, each of which would cost more than $8 million according to the Bovis cost estimate.
Option A, which would include five classrooms, was estimated at about $8.4 million. Option B, which would provide seven new classrooms, would cost about $8.9 million.
Mr. Kehrt also presented a preliminary project schedule, which he said demonstrated the dire need for the board to approve the expansion by the end of September so it could be ready for the opening of school in September 2003.
"A decision has to be made very quickly," Mr. Kehrt said Tuesday night. "The problem is we are in a squeeze right now and I don’t want to put any pressure on the school board, but something has to be done."
The proposed timetable received criticism by board members who were reluctant to make a hasty decision regarding such a large, expensive project.
"Time seems to be an issue right now," said board Vice President David Andrews at the meeting, who proposed pushing back the completion of the expansion to September 2004.
"I am very concerned about rushing to a decision this month," he said. "Someone has to show how strongly (the addition) is needed in 2003 rather than in 2004."
The expansion was originally proposed by an Ad Hoc Facilities Committee, comprising school board members, parents, township officials and community members who were not satisfied with the current gym facilities at the school.
Along with a new gymnasium, the committee recommended the construction of six classrooms. The school administration is now asking for one additional classroom based on the recent demographic study.
"There has certainly been strong evidence that the community has realized the need for a new gym," said board President Joan Rue on Thursday, who believes the number of classrooms included in the new addition will be the main subject of debate. "We assume that the construction of a new gym has wide-spread appeal. The obvious need for a new gym has been made quite clear as well."
Ms. Rue was unhappy with the lack of community attendance at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
"My greatest disappointment is that this is probably the fifth or sixth time we have met on this issue since we began the process and aside from three residents who were not part of the ad hoc committee, there has been very little feedback from the community," said Ms. Rue. "We are really hoping folks will come on Sept. 19 and listen, see Mr. Kehrt’s concept plan and give us a reaction so we have an idea about how the community feels."
The school’s administration plans to refine the numbers of their budget concept and present a proposal to the school board on Sept. 19.
"We hope to have a decision by Sept. 19," said Ms. Rue. "It will depend on the plan we see and the feedback we get from the community. I cannot say we will definitely have a decision ready that night."