The Moorestown Board of Education continues to be full steam ahead as it pushes forward with its Dec. 10 special election. At last Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, the board acknowledged receipt of the final two preliminary eligible cost letters that they were waiting on from the New Jersey Department of Education and set forth the interpretative statement that voters will see on the Dec. 10 ballot.
At its last meeting, the district received preliminary eligible cost letters from the New Jersey Department of Education, which approved the proposed projects for George Baker Elementary School, Mary Roberts Elementary School, South Valley Elementary School and the Upper Elementary School, with the 40 percent state share the district’s bond architect estimated. At last Tuesday night’s meeting, the board approved the final two letters for Moorestown High School and William Allen Middle School, which also received 40 percent state aid approval. The administration building does not qualify for aid.
As outlined, the election will take place from 2 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Proposal No. 1 asks voters to approve $22,673,138 in renovations, alterations and repairs to all of the buildings in the district. In September, the district learned that they were eligible for an additional $576,576 in Debt Service Aid from the NJDOE that they hadn’t anticipated. Given the extra aid, Proposal No. 1 would constitute a local tax impact of around $133 for the average assessed home valued at $454,032.
Proposal No. 2 asks for an additional $3,539,125 in renovations, alterations and improvements to Moorestown High School, William Allen Middle School and the administration building. If approved, the second proposal would have an additional local tax impact of $27.02 per year on top of the $133. However, the second bond proposal will only go into effect if the first proposal is approved. If the first proposal fails, the second proposal automatically fails as well.
If both bond proposals are approved, the Moorestown Board of Education will be authorized to undertake $26.2 million in school capital projects.
The board passed the referendum agenda items with no discussion. Board member Mark Villanueva voted “no” on the referendum items while the remainder of the board voted in favor. From here, the board will send a certified copy of the proposals to the county clerk whose office will help them take the next steps to move forward with the election.
During his communications committee report, board member Mick Weeks said the communication committee has been hard at work getting the word out about the referendum.
“We’ve had many informational meetings about the referendum so far,” Weeks said before rattling off a list of upcoming meetings they have planned with local community groups.
He said they’re also hosting open public meetings with the most recent taking place on Oct. 17 at the Moorestown Community House at 6:30 p.m. The committee will host another public meeting on Dec. 4 at the Moorestown Library.
The next meeting of the Moorestown Township Board of Education will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at William Allen Middle School. To view the district’s full bond referendum presentation, visit http://www.mtps.com/referendum. Anyone with questions about the referendum can email mtpsreferendum@mtps.com.
