Over 200 Hopewell Valley residents gathered virtually and in person at the Hopewell Valley Performing Arts Center on September 9 to participate in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD) bond referendum town hall.
The town hall offered the community a chance to listen to the proposed projects and ask questions prior to the upcoming special election being held on September 17, 2024, between 6am and 8pm at the Pennington Fire Company on 120 Broemel Place in Pennington.
The panel was moderated by Secretary, HVCHS Counseling Department Debbie Linthorst with the following panelists present:
- Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Rosetta Treece
- Assistant Superintendent for Business, Robert Colavita Jr.
- Director of Facilities, Thomas Quinn
- Principal of Bear Tavern Elementary School, Jay Billy
- Director of Pupil Services, Paulette DiNardo
- AIA, President of FVHD Architects + Planners, George Duthie
- AIA, CSI, LEED AP BD+C, Associate at FVHD Architects + Planners, Daniel Schittone
- Associate at Phoenix Advisors, Danielle Marino
Some members of the HVRSD Board of Education also attended the town hall to support the panel.
What is a Bond Referendum?
A bond referendum is a way for districts to ask residents for permission to borrow funds by selling bonds. If approved, the referendum provides state aid toward project costs, which reduces the amount of debt residents would repay through local taxes.
For the HVRSD, the referendum amount is $87 million with a state aid of $20.3 million. The aid would pay up about 25% of costs to offset the local tax share. The tax impact is between $433 and $515 annually.
However, Dr. Treece said “that access to state aid can only be accessed if we go through a bond referendum.”
Public Questions Timing of Referendum Vote
Members of the public questioned the District’s decision to do a special election in September as opposed to waiting until the vote in November.
Dr. Treece said “time is of the essence with some of the projects we have”, and explained that vote approval in September would offer an ideal timeline for construction in the summer of 2025, which would cause less disruption to students.
Growing Population, Growing Needs
The District aims to use referendum funds strategically, shifting from reactive repairs to a proactive approach that identifies facilities’ needs while planning ahead for expansion and growth. One reason for expansion is to maintain small class sizes amidst rising enrollment, as in Bear Tavern’s case.
Billy said, “We ended the year last year with 437 students and we presently have 452 students to start the year this year.”
While the growth in enrollment is expected, Bear Tavern already added a fourth grade classroom in the middle of the summer to keep fewer than 25 students per class and enrollment continues to rise.
Another reason for needed additional space is to continue to provide support services, STEAM learning labs, and special education support.
DiNardo said, “Over the course of the last decade we truly expanded our special education programing”, and added, “Currently in our District, we have about 800 students that we provide special education for.”
One of the expansions is preschool classrooms across the four elementary schools. This expansion has allowed the District to provide early intervention services to students including therapy, so they can access learning.
Dr. Treece pointed out the District’s concern with students safety as they are still using trailers outside the main building at Bear Tavern and Toll Gate Grammar.
Colavita said, “Those trailers were brought to the District in 1994. They were never meant to stay this long and this project has been kicked down the road so many times. It’s time that these buildings are done away with and our students are back inside the building.”
In addition to the proposed expansion the referendum would address projects of restoration and renovation that if left undone, could result in a catastrophic failure and higher costs in the future.
Duthie said, “the projects that are being contemplated in the referendum will affect all the District schools and, more importantly, touch all the kids within the schools and their daily educational environment where they spend a good portion of their day.”
Projects proposed in the referendum include:
- Roof repairs and exterior door enhancements
- Heating, ventilation and cooling system replacements
- Interior door replacements and improvements to keep students in main buildings
- Additional instructional space to relieve crowding
- Paving repairs, front entrance refurbishments, and a turf field addition
For additional project information visit the improvements and expansions proposed at each school.
Get Off My Lawn, Astroterf is the Future
A member of the public, who has one child at Bear Tavern and another child who went to Central Valley, questioned the District’s priorities and how the money will be spent. They asked for clarification on the District’s decision to spend $887 thousands on astroturf as opposed to HVAC, roof, and other projects at hand.
Dr. Treece responded that HVCHS astroturf was past its useful life causing students to be unable to utilize it as well as causing injuries and plastic beads to break apart and go underground into the environment.
For the proposed synthetic field project at Timberlane, the goal is to improve access and safety for the students.
Colavita explained that for years students have been transported to surrounding fields and being dropped off for athletic events. If there is an issue or an accident, the students are there until the bus returns or the school is informed of the issue.
“We found that the overuse of the fields was creating dangerous conditions. If you get any weather, as you know in the fall and in the spring you get a lot of rain, the fields deteriorate faster and we can’t get the kids on the fields. Again, safety bringing them (students) home, but also the safety of the fields themselves and preventing overuse was a reason why we wanted to initiate this project,” added Colavita.
Closing Remarks Ask for Support
Finance and Facilities, Dr. Alex Reznik, spoke at the end of the meeting on behalf of the HVRSD Board of Education. In his closing remarks he said that the world will not end if the referendum does not pass, but the District will look a lot different because we will need to make some difficult decisions.
Resources
Here is some additional information you can use to learn more about the bond referendum and upcoming special election on Tuesday, September 17:
- Watch this video about the Bond Referendum
- Visit HVRSD Bond Referendum website
- Watch this recording of the community forum and Q&A held on September 9, 2024
- For town hall takeaways visit HVRSD town hall page
For previous MercerMe coverage on the bond referendum, visit the articles below:
- Hopewell Valley Prepares for $87.5 Million School Upgrade Vote
- Pennington Mayor Calls Out Hopewell Township for Shifting School Tax Burden to Boroughs
- Hopewell Township Responds to Pennington Mayor’s Concerns Over School Funding
- Former Mayors Vote No on the School Referendum on September 17th
