A large wooden podium stood strongly and somewhat formidably at the center of the high school library during last Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. The podium will have a prolonged presence at the next few BOE meetings for citizens’ comments.
Because future meetings are likely to bring a lot of citizens with their concerns for a bond referendum, the board has gone back to the tradition of having citizens come up to a podium or microphone one at a time to speak. The podium will be present for the next few meetings. The board will have a special meeting on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the high school library, where the Long Range Planning Committee will present its recommendations to the board for the bond referendum.
The school district has been thinking about going out for a bond referendum for months to do much-needed updates to the schools. Since last April, the BOE asked Becica and his engineers to review facilities in terms of mechanical systems, electrical systems, exterior needs, foundations, brick and roofing. From his findings, Becica gave a review of the items that needed to be addressed and his suggestions for the bond referendum.
The proposal by Becica estimated the total probable cost for the projects would be $49.97 million, with $6.03 million from New Jersey Regular Operating District grants and a referendum of $43.93 million.
“We decided to go back to our old tradition of having people come up, say their name, their address and address the board one at a time at the podium,” Board President Glenn Moramarco said.
The board had the podium set up and a proper protocol for public participation paper at last Thursday’s meeting. The public comment period is for boards to listen to citizens’ concerns, but not to debate or enter into a question-and-answer session.
The board wanted the public to be aware that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved that night; boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his designee.
As meetings are recorded or televised, and students often attend or participate in the meeting, citizens are expected to maintain a tone of courtesy and civility.
“In the future, what we’ll do with it, if it is a large crowd, we’ll make sure everybody speaks once before coming up to speak a second time if we have time for second comments,” Moramarco said.
At the Sept. 10 BOE meeting, school architect Steven A. Becica gave a presentation to the board on the district’s facilities condition assessment and a bond referendum proposal. Since then, the Long Range Planning Committee has been going through the recommendations from the architect to create its own recommendations to present to the board.
The special meeting will not have a vote that night. This is a presentation to the board so it can feel more prepared and secure for when action is to be taken.
The board hopes to take a vote on the possible bond referendum at the Oct. 8 regular meeting, so if HPS decides to go out for a bond referendum they can make it for a January public vote.
In other news:
The school district is in talks with Moorestown Township Public Schools about working together on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math initiatives. Right now, the talks are general discussions, but will have more detailed discussions in the Curriculum Committee.
