School
projects go before voters again
Monday, December 13, 2004 • By BILL BRAY
• The Express-Times
WASHINGTON TWP. -- Voters will get a second chance
Tuesday to weigh in on a plan to expand and renovate the two
schools in the Warren Hills Regional School District.
The $42.8 million plan calls for building onto and
renovating Warren Hills Regional middle and high schools and
constructing a new athletic center on school-owned property
along Jackson Valley Road. The referendum is identical to
one defeated by a 246-vote margin in September, with one
exception.
This time, the project is in two separate questions --
$36,797,413 to expand and renovate the district's two
schools and $6,086,755 to construct the new athletic
facility.
Superintendent Peter Merluzzi said it's hard to predict
how people will vote.
"I hope the people have enough facts to vote on the
issues." Merluzzi said.
School officials said the expansions and renovations are
needed to address overcrowding at both schools. This year,
1,370 students attend the high school, which has a capacity
of 1,130 students. The middle school, which is supposed to
accommodate 615, has 781 students this school year.
The projects would increase the high school's capacity
to 1,548 and the middle school's to 748.
If approved, the project would add 48,000 square feet to
the high school, which was built in 1967 and last expanded
in 1989. The proposal would also add 7,400 square feet to
the middle school, which was built in 1931 and expanded in
1956 and 1967.
"It's not going to get any cheaper," said board
President Nancy Fallen.
School officials decided not to change the plan since
the first referendum to avoid resubmitting the project to
the state Department of Education for approval. Leaving the
plans unchanged also secures the state's commitment to give
$13,021,869 toward the expansions and renovations of the
schools. Any change to the plans would trigger a
reassessment of the state funding, Fallen said.
Some critics have said the proposal is too sports
orientated. Merluzzi said it's cheaper to build big spaces
such as gyms than classrooms. By converting existing spaces
into classrooms, the school also capitalizes on state
funding rules that call for a high percentage of state aid
for renovations, Merluzzi said.
The project would add a new auxiliary gym, cafeteria,
aerobics/wrestling room, weight room, trainer and athletic
director offices and additional parking at the high school.
Existing space at the high school would be renovated to
provide for a larger library, four new art rooms, two
agricultural/science labs with greenhouses, 13 classrooms,
two small-group instruction areas and an expanded guidance
office.
At the middle school, four new classrooms would be added
to the rear of the building in a two-story addition that
would also include an elevator to make the school completely
handicapped accessible. Renovations would provide the middle
school with a larger health office, a new main office near
the front entrance for better security, seven additional
classrooms and a new driveway for school buses to ease
congestion in the surrounding residential neighborhood.
The $6 million athletic facility would include a new
football field with a soft artificial turf, a new track and
four tennis courts. Proponents point out that the artificial
field can be used rain or shine and far more than a turf
field which can wear out quickly with overuse. If approved,
the artificial field would be used for several sports
including soccer, field hockey, football and area youth
leagues, Merluzzi said.
Also scheduled to be before the voters Tuesday is a
$10.8 million expansion and renovation of the Franklin
Township School in Hunterdon County.
Voting on this referendum will take place at the
Quakertown firehouse from 3 to 9 p.m. If the referendum is
approved, the school would borrow $8 million and receive
$2.8 million from the state.
The referendums are two of the 33 bond measures due to
go before voters across the state Tuesday. The ballots will
decide the fate of $686 million in school upgrade and
expansion projects, $208 million of which would be funded by
the state.
So many ballot questions will make Tuesday the busiest
day for bond votes ever in New Jersey, said Mike Yaple, a
spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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