$51M referendum slated for Sept. 27
‘Last-ditch’ effort to get state funding, says administrator
BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer

Act now or pay a higher price. That’s Edison Township schools Business Administrator Daniel Michaud’s take on selling the idea of a $51,064,589 million school improvement referendum on Sept. 27.

“It’s really our last-ditch effort to take advantage of construction funding,” Michaud said. “The need is there, and it’s not going to go away. The construction and labor costs will just continue to skyrocket and the funding may not be there in the future to count on.”

And the recent trouble with state’s Schools Construction Corporation doesn’t help the predicament, he said.

A recent state probe of the SCC found widespread gouging by contractors of the $8.6 billion in the fund.

So the fund is not being replenished and schools already slated for help will soon be at a loss, he said.

“That’s why it’s better to do this now,” Michaud said. “The state has approved it, but there are two different ways the funding could go right now. It will either come in the form of what is called a Section 15 grant, which is the best, or a debt-service grant paid out to us over 20 years.”

Either way, it would translate into a roughly $40-$60 annual school tax hike for a home assessed at the township average of $173,100.

“It will be the lower end of the spectrum if we get the Section 15 grant,” Michaud said. “The other way, we would have to put all the money out, and then the state would pay us back its 40 percent over 20 years. And the sooner it’s approved by voters, the better chance we have of being a part of the Section 15 grant.”

With the Section 15 grant, the state will dole out its share during the project and upon its completion, would pay $11,593,206, leaving the Board of Education to bond for the remaining $39,471,383.

“In other words, if the Section 15 grant is approved, the taxpayers will only have to raise $39,471,383.” Michaud said. “If we have to wait until December, it’s almost a guarantee that we will get the other funding, or what is called Section 9, and taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the entire project up front. It’s about a $10 difference a year.”

Public Financial Management, consultants from Moorestown, will outline the options for the public at a special Aug. 18 board meeting.

“We need to completely explain how this will work,” Michaud said. “When people see this question they’re going to be tearing their hair out trying to understand all of it. The bottom line is that the earlier voters accept a referendum, the better the chances of a better aid option.”

School officials plan more information sessions and meetings before the special election.

The improvements are needed to cope with an ever-increasing enrollment, Michaud said.

The district’s student population stood at 13,824 at the end of the school year. Enrollment has jumped at a pace of 100 to 200 students a year, he said.

“The core facilities are just inadequate for a school district the size of Edison’s,” Michaud said.

Plans call for more classrooms for the two middle schools and additions to 10 of the 11 elementary schools, ranging from gymnasiums, cafetoriums, and regular and small-group instruction classes.

The district is inadequate in providing sufficient office space for functions such as guidance, health care and libraries, according to the state Department of Education.

A primary issue is renovating existing multipurpose rooms, which are now used as gyms, into cafetoriums with kitchens.

A cafetorium is a combination cafeteria/auditorium. The food is now trucked over to the elementary schools from J.P. Stevens High School.

“Right now we have about 500-800 kids in each elementary school,” Michaud said. “When the schools were built, back in the 1950s, there were more like 250 to 300. Using the multipurpose room as a gym just doesn’t give us enough room. With this plan, all the elementary schools except Lindenau would get a new gym.”