Once again, the Board of Education for Haddonfield discussed the possibility of having a bond referendum vote on Jan. 27 to get Regular Operating District grants from the state to help with school improvements at Thursday night’s meeting. Ultimately, the board came to agreement that the public needs more time to learn more about the referendum and make a decision, so the later date of a vote on March 10 would be better.
With ROD grants, schools apply for them and are approved up to a certain amount. Haddonfield was approved for $17 million. However, how ROD grants work, the state pays for about 40 percent and the school district’s must provide the rest. These grants are paid over 15 or 20 years so there is less of a burden on the district and taxpayers.
In Superintendent Richard Perry’s recommendation, which is a preliminary plan, three questions were proposed for the bond referendum.
Question one is for improvements that the schools should absolutely do. This would include exterior renovations, such as roof replacement, interior renovations, such as restroom updates, building systems updates, such as boiler replacements or updates, and electrical construction.
Instead of using the full amount, in the superintendent’s report the numbers were narrowed to a total cost of $8.4 million with $3.3 million being paid for by the state and $5.1 million left to be paid by the district. According to Perry, wanting to keep the tax burden on taxpayers under $100, the calculated local tax impact on an assessed home valued at $491,000 at 15 years would be $98 more a year and at 20 years would be $81 more a year.
The second question asks for HVAC improvements or updates. Board members said this would be a question that would end the debate of whether air-conditioning was really an important issue. If approved, HVAC improvement costs would be $3.5 million in total with the state paying $1.4 million and $2.1 million. The calculated local tax impact at 15 years would be $41 more a year, and at 20 years would be $33 more a year.
The third question would ask for the high school’s stadium grandstand restoration. This project does not qualify for a state share. The total cost would be $1.2 million. The calculated local tax impact at 15 years would be $23 more a year and at 20 years would be $18 more a year.
There was some debate among the board feeling the March date was too far away, while others felt the January date was too soon. Those who supported the January date felt it gave them more time to accept bids as well as get work done over the summer. March date supporters felt with the holidays, communication would not be sufficient and residents wouldn’t hear about the referendum until after the holidays, giving them only days to collect information and decide. Citizens agreed that the later date would be better and help to gain better trust with the schools.
After much debate and hearing from citizens, the board concluded the January date was too soon and would look into having the March 10 date for the bond referendum.
At the end of the meeting, teachers’ contracts was mentioned briefly. At the Nov. 11 meeting with the state mediator, a tentative agreement was reached. Both parties were happy an agreement was reached and thanked each other for their professionalism and cooperation.
“We’re delighted that a tentative agreement has been reached,” said BOE president Glenn Moramarco.
“We’re happy to have come to a resolution. It’s fair, it’s reasonable and we’re looking to continue and move forward,” Corrine Welsh, co-president of the HEA, said.
Details will be disclosed after both the teachers’ union and the BOE ratify the agreement.
“Both the HEA and the BOE negotiations representatives put in a lot of hard work and numerous late-night hours in reaching this agreement that will ultimately benefit the students and the community in the years to come,” Perry said.
In other news:
• Commendations were given to fourth-grade students Juliana Dellorco and Parker Williams for reading the most minutes in the Elizabeth Haddon Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. The students reading minutes for the school totaled 248,804 minutes with Dellorco reading 15,135 minutes and Williams reading 12,884 minutes.
• Garrison Architects has resigned as architect of record for the Haddonfield BOE affective Nov. 11.
• The next BOE meeting will be held on Thursday Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Haddonfield Memorial High School Library.
