Toth: Time is now for school renovations Edison schools super seeks support for $79M renovation project BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer With the population of the Edison school district approaching maximum capacity and projections predicting an influx of approximately 1,500 students by 2010, the Board of Education has passed a resolution to put a $79 million bond referendum on the April ballot to build additions to a dozen district schools. Superintendent Carol Toth and the district's administration have begun to highlight some of the needs facing the district, offering renovations to the schools as solutions that are "designed to achieve parity and consistency throughout the district." The Edison School District currently supports nearly 13,900 students, and numbers projected for 2010 put that figure well over 15,000. Toth said that the schools are being forced to convert closets into kitchens and gymnasiums into cafeterias to accommodate the growing number of students and that the current facilities, the newest of which is several decades old, cannot handle the expected growth the district will receive. "All of our buildings are old," Toth said. "They all do the same thing." At Lincoln Elementary School, what Toth called a typical Edison K-5 facility, the gymnasium carries double duty as a cafeteria. Meals cooked at the high schools are shipped to Lincoln and reheated in a custodial closet converted into a kitchen. When the gymnasium is finished being used as a cafeteria, the principal of Lincoln elementary, Richard Labbe, and the custodial staff have six minutes to break down the tables and mop the floor before the physical education classes begin. Lincoln Elementary is one of the few Edison grade schools where students are not forced to eat at their desks, Toth said. It is for these reasons and others that the Board of Education is proposing the bond referendum, which will be voted on at the same time as the district's 2008 budget. The referendum would allow the board to raise more than $79 million to build more classroom, gymnasium and special education space, to better facilitate the expected growth in the district. Lincoln elementary in particular would receive eight new classrooms, a gymnasium, a renovated all-purpose cafetorium with expanded kitchen, and special education classrooms. Toth said that if the referendum is approved and the renovations completed, this would be the final renovations that could be put on these schools. The space does not exist to expand most of them any further. "Once the referendum projects are completed," Toth said, "very few of the schools will have any room on the property to expand." The state of New Jersey has promised to provide debt service aid to the tune of $17 million, or approximately 20 percent of the total cost over 20 years. The debt service would come in annual installments over the life of the aid and would cost $81 per year for a property assessed at $170,000, the township average. Offering the referendum at the same time as the budget has three components to it, Toth said. The first reason is that the cost of conducting the referendum separate from the budget vote would be about $50,000, and the district hopes to avoid that cost. The second reason is the timing of construction would give the district the lowest cost. If the referendum is passed, Toth predicts a fall 2007 start date and a late 2008 or early 2009 completion date. The project would be split into three sections completed simultaneously. The third reason is the unreliability of future debt service aid from the state. According to district Business Administrator, Daniel Michaud, the state is expected to adopt a new formula for doling out state aid for schools, which would mean the clock could be ticking on how long this money would be available to Edison. The Board of Education officially accepted the $17 million in debt service last month, locking the state into that figure at least for now. But district officials are not willing to bank on that money being available in future years. Assistant Business Administrator Bill Muzzio said that the current financial climate is good for beginning a large project. Combining the possible lower cost of construction for starting in the fall and the current interest rate levels, he said it could cost the district less right now than it would at another time. Despite these reasons, Toth said that asking the public to approve a budget and a referendum, a move that has not worked well in the past, was a concern. Toth said the administration was criticized in 2005 for taking what she called a Band-Aid approach to renovations in a previous bond referendum defeat and decided it was time to do "the whole package." "We're very concerned," Toth said of asking the public for two yes votes on April 17, "and we're very well aware of it, and we're doing everything possible. But we cannot continue with what we have right now because we are increasing in enrollment. If the bond goes down, we'll be back next year and it will cost the taxpayers a lot more." The project is expected to yield some savings, however. The district is hoping to move some of the special education children who are currently being sent out of district at a very large per-pupil cost, to facilities within the district. Muzzio said that should realize substantial savings for the district. The school district has begun a campaign of bond referendum awareness for the public to learn what the proposed bond referendum really entails and why the district feels it is so vital to the future of Edison schools. A hotline has been created at (732) 452-4573, and the district's Web site, www.edison.k12.nj.us, will have information for the public. Toth said that the administration is also offering tours of the current facilities for residents interested in seeing for themselves. Those tours can be set up through the superintendent's office. "We're not making this up," Toth said of the need for the bond referendum. "This problem is not going away."