FREEHOLD – Construction has begun on a project in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District that will address the issue of student overcrowding in the district by expanding its schools.
On Oct. 12, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the expansion of the Park Avenue Complex, which houses two of the district’s schools, the Park Avenue Elementary School (pre-K through 5) and the Freehold Intermediate School (6-8). The expansion is part of a $33 million construction project that will expand all of the schools in the district.
A $17.8 million contract was awarded to G&P Parlamas Inc., Neptune City, for the construction project. According to district administrators, there will be four additions made at the Park Avenue Complex, among other work, which will total 22,790 square feet.
The additions are:
- A 17,200-square-foot addition that will include three sixth grade general classrooms, one pair of boys and girls barrier free bathrooms, a library media center with associated support offices and computer instruction area, a gymnasium and a girls locker room.
- A 4,500-square-foot addition that will include a cafeteria expansion, kitchen support and receiving area, one eighth grade general classroom and an electrical room.
- A 640-square-foot addition that will include a technology department office and associated storage room.
- A 450-square-foot addition that will include a reception and waiting area for the Park Avenue Elementary School, a main entrance secure vestibule with direct access to the new main office reception area and a freestanding canopy.
“Our students have always had the support of a dedicated superintendent, staff, Board of Education and family,” Freehold Borough Mayor Nolan Higgins said at the ceremony. “Now they have the support of brick and mortar. Students will see this moment as a milestone in their education.”
Freehold Borough has three schools. On Oct. 16, the school board awarded an $8.4 million contract to Newport Construction for work at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school (pre-K through 5) on Dutch Lane Road. As of Oct. 18, no date had been set for the Freehold Learning Center groundbreaking.
The construction project is intended to address student overcrowding in the district. At present, there are about 1,700 pupils enrolled. The three schools have classroom space for about 1,420 students.
“This groundbreaking ceremony is a significant milestone for our district,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said prior to the ceremony. “We can now see the day when our need for classroom space will be largely met. We greatly appreciate all the support we have received in this effort and remain focused on resolving the district’s underfunding in state aid to adequately meet the needs of our students.”
As a result of the overcapacity, Freehold Borough currently rents nine classrooms (six kindergarten classrooms and three pre-kindergarten classrooms) in the neighboring Freehold Township K-8 School District and one pre-kindergarten classroom at the First Baptist Church of Freehold in the borough.
During a visit, state Assemblywoman Joann Downey (D-Monmouth) described being “appalled” by the conditions at the Freehold Borough schools. She expected to see classrooms separated by dividers, but said she saw hundreds of children separated only by boxes. In one instance, she said a pupil was giving a book report while a fellow student nearby was acting out verbally.
State Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling (D-Monmouth) concurred and called the visits he and Downey made to the district since joining the Assembly two years ago “eye-opening.”
“I see what perseverance looks like,” Houghtaling said at the groundbreaking ceremony. “We are going to have a great school here.”
The construction project will increase classroom space to 1,589 students and put less of a strain on classrooms, according to district administrators.
“For many, it seemed like this day would never come,” school board President Michael Lichardi said at the ceremony. “This moment was a decade in the making and a decade overdue. Our schools are literally busting at the seams.”
Following the defeat of two referendums that proposed the school additions, district administrators followed an appeals process that concluded with the state commissioner of education authorizing the work and directing the state to fund approximately 85 percent of the cost.
“We were in Trenton 10 times in the last two years,” state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) said at the ceremony. “We met with (the commissioner) five times in five months, knocking on his door, telling him we have children on top of each other, sitting on a stage, eager to learn. It’s not right. We have got to give them space.”
Beck said the state’s approval of a project that was rejected by voters was a unique scenario.
“It is because of the teachers, parents and administrators in this room that we were able to make our case,” she said.
Tomazic informed the audience that during the appeal, two students had asked to give testimony before state officials regarding the condition of their schools. He said one child, who is now in fifth grade, testified about being in a crowded space and about how she disliked the fact that her younger sister was attending kindergarten in a different school.
Interim Monmouth County Superintendent Lester Richens emphasized that Freehold Borough’s students are the primary reason why the expansion is taking place.
“The reason you were able to mobilize the support you received was because of those young people,” Richens said. “They are Freehold Borough’s future. They are the future of our country. If we don’t give them an environment for their education, we are short-changing them.”