Crowded
school hires consultant
Wednesday, December 15, 2004 • By F. DAVID
HOFF • The Express-Times
BLAIRSTOWN TWP. -- There was a time when the brick
schoolhouse on Stillwater Road accommodated the township's
kindergarten through high school students and those from
neighboring Hardwick Township.
Now, its 750 pre-school through sixth grade students
alone, are overcrowding it while seventh through
12th-graders go to North Warren Regional High School.
The Blairstown school, built in 1929, has had three
expansions since 1954, the last in 1980 with 18 classrooms,
a library and music suite.
Michael Feeney, who was principal of the school for 13
years and has been superintendent of the school district
since the summer of 2003, said the elementary school is
rated as being 225 pupils over capacity.
He said four temporary classroom units brought to the
site in 2003 relieved some of the overcrowded conditions but
a number of classes are still being held in the school
cafeteria and class sizes range from 23 to 26 students,
larger than the state average.
The district's Vail school building, abandoned in 1970,
was put back in use in 1979 and houses 3- to 5-year-old
pre-schoolers who have special needs.
The Blairstown Township Board of Education retained
Thursday a Raritan Borough, Somerset County, architectural
firm, Design Resources Group, at a $15,000 fee to assess the
school district's facility needs and provide the school
board with options and cost estimates.
The fee will be rolled into the referendum if a building
project is proposed.
Feeney said a major consideration in moving forward on a
project to meet the district's needs is that state funds are
available through the School Construction Corp. to pay up to
40 percent of the costs of school renovations and new
construction.
The administrator said the state agency reimburses New
Jersey school districts up to 40 percent of renovations to
existing buildings and uses a formula for determining
payments up to 40 percent of the costs of new
construction.
He said indications are the state agency may run out of
funds by 2006.
A concept report from Design Resources Group is to be
submitted to the local school board in early February.
Meanwhile, Feeney said, meetings are being held with a
local focus group to evaluate different approaches and have
input in a continuing investigation of options.
Reporter F. David Hoff can be reached at 908-475-2174.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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