School referendum plans put on hold
Plumsted officials want to ask voters for $38M in improvements
BY ADAM RIBACK
Correspondent

Plumsted

The Plumsted Township School District is waiting for approval from the state's Local Finance Board for four construction proposals that would require an extension of the district's bonding capacity.

Recent financial complications have arisen after the Township Committee introduced a bond ordinance for $20 million. The move may have an impact on the school district's ability to exceed its bonding capacity.

Plumsted school administrators plan to propose a four-part $38 million construction referendum.

Initial plans called for residents to vote on the proposal in September. However, district administrators said this week that the recent financial issues have forced them to delay the referendum vote until December.

School administrators and the Board of Education want to place four questions before voters:

+ The first proposal ($33.6 million) calls for additions, alterations and renovations to the primary school, middle school and high school to increase classroom and program space.

Work at the primary school will include the construction of 10 regular classrooms, four preschool disabled classrooms, two small group instruction rooms, a new gymnasium, 109 additional parking spaces, a new playground and two new kindergarten classrooms.

The middle school will receive a new lobby entrance, 70 additional parking spaces and a renovated cafeteria which will be used as a connector to the high school. The cafeteria will seat 350 students.

An additional 212 parking spaces, three science labs, a fitness area and other classrooms are included in the proposal for the high school.

+ The second proposal ($2.7 million) calls for the addition of 200 auditorium seats at the high school for district and community use.

+ The third proposal ($599,358) calls for an addition and renovations to the field house as well as the addition of 300 bleacher seats at the high school stadium.

+ The fourth proposal ($957,625) calls for the addition of all-weather turf to the high school stadium field, which will also be for district and community use.

Administrators said they believe these upgrades are necessary in order to accommodate a projected growth in enrollment in the K-12 district. From the 2000-01 school year to 2005-06, the enrollment increased by about 455 students to a total of 1,860 students in the district. According to figures provided by the district, it is projected that the enrollment will reach 2,238 students in the 2010-11 school year.

District administrators said the referendum's impact on property taxes has not been calculated yet.

According to Superintendent of Schools Jerry North, if the December referendum is approved, improvements to the New Egypt Primary School could be open for use as early as January 2009, while upgrades to the New Egypt Middle School and New Egypt High School would be operational by September of 2009.

Now it's all a matter of sorting out the financial details.

"The Township Committee and the school district are working together to help complete our project and any (projects) of their own," North said, adding that he believes "the township was just protecting their right to bond for future projects."

If the Local Finance Board, which will make the decision on the application for the extended bonding capacity, turns down the school district's request then the proposals would have to be altered.

"We would have to re-evaluate our referendum," North said.

The Local Finance Board has already informed school administrators it was uncomfortable approving the district's extended bonding capacity application because it did not know what the township's new $20 million worth of debt would be used for, according to a Plumsted Township School District press release.

The Local Finance Board moved the school district's application hearing to Sept. 12 so it can hear testimony from municipal officials regarding the use of the new $20 million bond ordinance.

The regular bonding capacity of the school district is 4 percent of the value of the municipality. The Township Committee has the capability of bonding 3.5 percent of the municipality's value and the two entities have the ability to share in each other's bonding capability. However, when one entity surpasses its allotted percentage - as the school district has done - it must appear before the Local Finance Board in order to attain an extension on its bonding capacity.

Mayor Ron Dancer said the school district exceeded its 4 percent limit and therefore has to appear before the Local Finance Board, while the township "is not even close yet" to going over its bonding limit.

"We consulted with the school district before we introduced the ordinance for the bond," Dancer said.

According to Dancer, a primary reason for the township's new bonding ordinance was the length of time it would take for the school district to return to its 4 percent limit.

"The school district would have to demonstrate to the Local Finance Board that they would be back within 4 percent within 20 years. The Township Committee could not [afford to] have its total bonding capacity being used for the next 20 years, especially with possible upcoming projects such as sewers, roads and parks. We would not be able to introduce any capital bond ordinances for a long while."

According to Dancer, the school district may be back within its 4 percent limit by 2017.