Moorestown Township Public Schools went before the township’s planning board Nov. 7 for review of proposed capital improvements to the high school and to William Allen Middle School, which they hope to finance by passing an approximately $25 million referendum in December.
But before Moorestown residents can cast their votes for or against the referendum on Dec. 10, the board weighed in.
It unanimously agreed the district’s applications were “not in conjunction with the township’s master plan” and will present its formal recommendation at the planning board meeting on Dec. 5, according to Douglas Maute, board chair. The recommendations will then go to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).
What they’ll do with these recommendations remains to be seen, he said.
According to Maute, New Jersey’s municipal laws dictate that any time a school district plans to make capital improvements, it must come before the local planning board for review not only for a project but for the accompanying changes to the long-range facilities plan.
In the two applications brought before the planning board Nov. 7, the district was asked to review its capital projects, but did not address a long-range facilities plan. Maute said amendments to the long-range facilities plan were already made.
“The proper procedures don’t appear to have been followed,” he said.
Despite the district not coming before the planning board, the NJDOE approved the amendments to the schools’ long-range facilities plan on Sept 16. But Maute cited case law that says the NJDOE is supposed to deny the application on its face if it is without comments from the planning board.
“Somehow the [board of education] submitted an amended long-range facilities plan to the New Jersey Department of Education and the department approved the plan without its submission to the planning board,” Maute said.
“I don’t know the long-range implications of that.”
Given that the long-range amendments were already made, Maute said the board reviewed the capital improvement applications for updates to MHS and WAMS. But the board unanimously found the district’s applications were not “in conjunction” with Moorestown’s Master Plan, citing a number of concerns.
According to Maute, the district wants to tear down trees that block the view of a drainage basin in order to create additional parking at MHS. He said planning board members expressed hesitation about how the move might affect the site’s drainage and noted that the board is currently compiling concerns to turn into formal recommendations for the district.
The Dec. 2018 re-examination of the township’s master plan stated the district’s enrollment was down for the last 10 years. The planning board recommends that the district do a formal study to determine what impact affordable housing will have, given that current estimates indicate the housing will only add about 200 students. Maute said that given enrollment is down and the affordable housing impact appears nominal, the board would like to see a formal study on how the school population will be affected in the future.
Maute said to date, the planning board has never reviewed capital improvement applications before examining amendments to the long-range facilities plan. He acknowledged the Nov. 7 was not the norm.
“I feel like it was the cart before the horse.”
Superintendent Scott McCartney said he was not at the Nov. 7 planning board meeting and couldn’t fully comment on the planning board’s feedback until he receives its formal recommendations.
“What I know and understand is, we followed the advice of our professionals, and they have confirmed with the Department of Education that the process has been followed properly,” McCartney said.
He added that the district’s full focus now is on getting the referendum passed on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, Maute wondered if the procedural step not taken at the planning board meeting will expose the district to questions about the referendum’s validity.
“If the referendum passes and someone is upset about it and they challenge LRFP (the long-range facilities plan), I don’t know that means,” he said.
The next planning board meeting will be at 7 p.m., Dec. 5, in town hall.
