Come December, the Haddonfield School District will gear up for a bond referendum. In preparation, the board of education discussed the submitted referendum scope during their June meeting.
The presentation gave an overview of the needs of the district and major projects that could take place, but did not cover the preliminary estimated costs (PECs) or the specific referendum questions that would be asked.
“We’re waiting for the PECs, the state will give us those, said Superintendent Chuck Klaus. “Once we have those, we’ll then be able to share the numbers.”
The bond referendum questions that will be voted on are anticipated to be announced in mid-August, with the final presentation of the scope of the referendum to be shared in late August and September.
There will be talking sessions and town halls from September through December, leading up to the vote on Dec. 10.
The key areas of need include accessibility, additional classroom space, athletics and auditoriums, building maintenance and safety, early childhood education, specialized learning spaces and media centers.
“Right now we have large parts of our instructional areas that are not accessible to students and staff,” Klaus said.
Some of these projects include putting an elevator at Haddon Elementary School and relocating its main office to be more accessible.
Regarding additional classroom spaces, Klaus noted the goal was to have 23 total classrooms per each elementary school: 19 general classrooms, one art room, one music room and two flex rooms.
“If we did full-day kindergarten, three-sections, that’s 18 [classrooms] and adding pre-K is 19 functional classrooms,” Klaus explained. To anticipate the potential growth, Klaus noted that the flex rooms could also potentially be converted into a complete classroom.
Compared to the current number of classrooms at each elementary school, this goal would add three classrooms at Central, three at Haddon and three at Tatem to meet the goal.
Regarding athletics, the district is proposing to have lighting and parking as part of the referendum, but the turf field being paid for with capital funds. They are also looking to resurface the gym at Haddonfield Memorial High School and all three elementary schools’ all purpose rooms to remove mercury-containing floors currently in place.
The scope also includes renovating the auditoriums at both the high school and middle school to improve sound, lighting and seating.
For building maintenance and safety, they are looking to add windows to the high school’s A-wing and C-wing, and having a partial roof replacement at Central Middle School, as well as adding a new fire alarm system at both the high school and middle schools.
The full presentation is available at the district’s YouTube channel.
The next board of education meeting will be Thursday, July 25.
