Upper Freehold Board of Education holds informational meeting to discuss possibility of building a new middle school on Walnford Road.
By: Lauren Burgoon
UPPER FREEHOLD The Board of Education’s tentative plan to build a middle school on Walnford Road drew heated, but mixed, response from about 150 residents at a public information session Monday night.
Many of the Upper Freehold and Allentown residents came out to learn more about the school now that a 60-acre tract for the project is nearly decided upon. Others were part of a citizens group that decried the location as unsuitable and unsafe for a school.
A Dec. 14 referendum is planned on the middle school project. The board will ask voters to approve a $37 million project that includes land purchase, construction and road improvements. The portion of the money to be used for land purchase has not been disclosed by the Board of Education on the advice of the panel’s land attorney. The land deal has not been finalized, pending more environment tests expected to be completed in a few weeks.
Upper Freehold Regional Superintendent Robert Connelly and school board President Jeanette Bressi answered questions and addressed concerns from dozens of residents during the four-hour meeting. Ms. Bressi repeatedly answered concerns that the school district was pushing for the Walnford Road land despite concerns about drainage, traffic and building near wetlands.
"If a school is not meant to go on this piece of land, we will know that," Ms. Bressi said. "We are not going to make a $35 million mistake on a piece of land."
Residents fired questions at the panel presenting plans for the middle school, which included the planner and bond counsel. Chief among the concerns is the environmental soundness of the land. Twenty acres of the tract is wetlands that will be unusable for school construction. Parents questioned the board about the fiscal responsibility of buying all 60 acres when one-third of the land would be unusable. Several questioned if the land’s owner, Princeton Nurseries, was willing to sell the property because it is unable to be farmed. Others worried about drainage and mosquitoes.
"I have had two horses with West Nile virus," said Joe Calvitti, who lives next to the site. "It’s a very real problem."
Drainage also was a major point of contention. Residents argued that the land, which slopes down from the road, is easily flooded, even in minor rainstorms. Curtis Byrnes, who also lives next to the site, showed the audience pictures of stream and road flooding. The stream runs through the property. Other residents talked about the nearby bridge that was damaged and shut down the entire street last year.
Ms. Bressi told the audience that a board member went out during the fierce rainstorm last week and reported back no problems on the site.
Some residents shouted out questions about the planned athletic fields behind the school on the schematic designs. Some parents said that the fields were not necessary for a middle school program, which prompted several residents to argue about the value of fields to the education experience.
The design of the school also was questioned. Current schematic designs call for a two-story, four-hallway core with offshoots on the ground floor for a doublewide gym, a cafeteria, music rooms and an auditorium. Gerald Nathanson of Powder Horn Way asked if a square building would be more economical and therefore more acceptable to voters.
District architect David Fraytak told him that a square building could be slightly more economical but not significantly so.
Parents also shouted out comments in support of the school throughout the meeting, with one urging the community to do what is best for the children by approving the new school.
Dr. Connelly told the audience that the district desperately needs a new middle school. Enrollment projections estimate that the district will grow by 851 students within four years. He said that by the 2006-07 school year there might not be enough classroom space for all of the district’s students.
"By 2007, the earliest a school can be on line, we will be totally out of space," Dr. Connelly said. "In 2006 we may need temporary classrooms, often referred to as trailers. By 2007 those temporary classrooms will be a certitude."
District bond lawyer Tony Pannella told residents that the average trailer, which can house two classes, costs $175,000 each year. He said 12 classes will need the trailers by 2007-08, meaning the district will incur a $1 million cost every year to operate the temporary classrooms.
"That will be a current expense that needs to be included in the budget each year, unlike debt," Mr. Pannella said. "Please, this is not a threatening discussion. It’s a discussion that reflects the war wounds this town could incur. A vote of ‘no’ (on the referendum) does not mean no expenses. It just means no school."
Monday’s meeting was the first of several fall and summer sessions designed to educate the community about the school and why it is needed. Ms. Bressi said the district learned from Millstone’s middle school referendum failure in September 2003, where some voters indicated in exit polls that they were not educated enough about the project to vote "yes." Ms. Bressi vowed to hold sessions at Back to School night in the fall and meet with individuals or in housing developments.
Some residents complained Monday that there still was not enough information available to them on alternative sites and designs. Dr. Connelly pledged to put up all of the information on the district’s Web site, www.ufrsd.net.
The building design envisioned by the district is based on "team teaching" where students are educated in smaller groups. The classrooms have been designated for particular teams on the design. There is also a media center and auditorium that could be used by the community. The two-floor school has 12 classrooms that will be left open for future construction if the district grows more.
Outside plans include a bus route that wraps around the school and a separate carpool drop off area. A student lobby in the rear of the building would provide another entrance access. There are eight athletic fields and a sewage treatment plant planned.
Ms. Bressi said that the face of the school has been left open until the district knows where the location will be. She said the front of the school will reflect the area that the school is built in.