Dutch Neck Elementary School would get six-classroom addition under plan.
By: Emily Craighead
Dutch Neck Elementary School could get a six-classroom addition if the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education decides June 28 to move ahead with a proposed facilities referendum.
As part of an ongoing process to evaluate the district’s facilities, architect David Fraytak of Faridy Veis Fraytak P.C. of Trenton presented an analysis and assessment of the district’s elementary schools Tuesday.
"This is our best look as a team at the needs of your facilities, for discussion purposes only," Mr. Fraytak said.
The proposed $2.1 million expansion of Dutch Neck School means increasing the school’s capacity, but enrollment is not expected to increase as dramatically as the addition might suggest, administrators said.
Currently, some classes meet in trailers, hallways, closets, and on the stage.
"We use anything you could actually put a body in as a room," Principal Scott Feder said. "You’re actually allowing those programs to have real space, not space that has to be closed when it’s hot and humid."
Space at Maurice Hawk is also tight, but Superintendent Robert Loretan said he does not think an addition will be necessary.
"The wild card for us is Toll," the superintendent said, referring to the Toll Brothers’ Estates at Princeton Junction housing development in West Windsor. "What will Toll really bring us? Will it level off in the next couple of years?
"We’re hunching the enrollment is going to level off," he continued. "As of now, we’re staying within the footprint of the building, unless the board urges us to go in a different direction."
The district’s projections through 2009 show enrollment growth peaking at 2.5 percent for the 2005-2006 school year and dropping back to 0.6 percent the following year.
Of three of the four elementary schools said to be in need of work J.V.B. Wicoff, Maurice Hawk and Dutch Neck modular-unit upgrades are needed, according to Mr. Fraytak.
"In our professional opinion, these buildings do not need to be torn down," he said. With proper maintenance, he said, the modular buildings could last another 25 years.
The units, which all have crawl spaces beneath them, will need upgraded ventilation systems to improve air quality.
The only projects proposed for Millstone River Elementary School are sidewalk, curb and paving repairs.
The four building principals said they were pleased with the proposed list of projects.
"This is a good plan for us," Mr. Feder said. "Air and space are our two major concerns, and this addresses those."
Tuesday’s presentation was the first of two addressing facilities issues. The next will be at a special meeting Wednesday. Then, the architect will address maintenance concerns at High School North and High School South, as well as technology and security at all the schools.
"At the end of next Wednesday, we will have a list of all the items that can possibly go into the referendum with the costs associated with each one," board President Hemant Marathe said.
The board will decide at its June 28 meeting whether to proceed with the referendum and send a list of projects to the state Department of Education for approval.
In other action Tuesday, the board approved several bids for buildings-and-grounds work.
The board awarded a $59,999 bid by Gres Paving for paving projects at Wicoff Elementary School, a $69,750 bid by American Athletic Courts Inc. to resurface the track, and a $158,965 bid by American Tennis Courts Inc. to resurface the tennis courts at High School South.