More than 60 residents joined a virtual town hall Thursday night as Hopewell Valley Regional School District leaders detailed the upcoming two-question bond referendum and answered questions from the community. The 90-minute webinar, held Oct. 9, was recorded and will be posted for public viewing at hvrsd.org/vote.
Superintendent Dr. Rosetta Treece opened the meeting by welcoming participants and introducing a panel of district and professional experts. “We have assembled a panel that has expertise on all the aspects of the November 4 bond referendum vote,” she said. “We will share details and answer your questions to help you feel informed before you go vote.”
Treece noted that the district revised its proposal following last year’s failed referendum. “A little more than a year ago, our community decided against the bond referendum. We listened and revised the proposal to reflect the voters’ feedback,” she said. “Enrollment growth and aging infrastructure are putting increasing pressure on our buildings… Without the ability to expand and improve our schools, we will not be able to maintain smaller class sizes and avoid widespread redistricting.”
Two questions and $20.2 million in state aid
Treece explained that the referendum is divided into two ballot questions. “Question one would allow the district to address immediate large-scale building needs that improve safety and comfort for our students and our faculty,” she said. “Question two includes the expansion of both Toll Gate and Bear Tavern schools… Question two can only pass if question one also is approved. If both questions pass, the district receives $20.2 million in state aid toward the improvements.”
Architect Dan Schittone, who also has a child in the district, said the referendum addresses “critical infrastructure needs” and provides access to state funding. “When it comes down to the state aid and the critical need that you have for things like HVAC and other infrastructure, we want those facilities to match sort of the education that we like to see from Hopewell Valley,” he said.
Aging systems and limited maintenance funding
Assistant Superintendent Robert Colavita described the scope of roof replacements under Question 1. “We have over 800,000 square feet of roof in the district and this referendum will address only around 180,000 square feet,” he said. “We’re only going to be replacing sections of the roofing that have a warranty expiration date of 2026 or earlier.”
Director of Facilities Tom Quinn explained that newer, high-efficiency boilers have already reduced natural gas use in some schools. “A good example is Hopewell Elementary, an 80-plus-thousand-square-foot building, currently uses less gas than the 48,000-square-foot Toll Gate building,” he said. “We want to move to an energy recovery so that the outside air is brought in through energy recovery units and not directly over to heating and cooling coils.”
Quinn also said many classroom and exterior doors at Bear Tavern and Hopewell Elementary date to the 1960s and “don’t close properly” or “are falling apart.”
Colavita added that while the district has completed more than $10 million in capital projects since 2016, those efforts rely on limited reserve funds. “The unfortunate thing is we can no longer cover the scope of these projects with our capital reserve or our annual budget,” he said. “When we complete building projects through our referendum, we’re able to get funding for all projects that are eligible.”
Question 2 and township PILOT commitment
Schittone said the second question includes additions of “eight to ten classrooms” at Bear Tavern and six at Toll Gate, designed to eliminate modular trailers and provide small-group and therapy spaces. Board President Anita Williams Galiano said the plan was reshaped after “a lot of listening around the community.” She added that the revised proposal focuses on “practical needs” and that “the turf project was not well received,” so it was removed. Williams Galiano also noted that ongoing talks with municipal leaders led to Hopewell Township’s $16.1 million commitment toward Bear Tavern’s expansion. That money will be used to pay down the debt service connected to the expansion project.
Colavita said those funds remain tied up in litigation. “Right now, that $16 million is hung up… there is a pending lawsuit, and it’s being pushed up to the Supreme Court in New Jersey, and that money is not accessible to us right now,” he said. “The design would be, once we get it started and the money becomes free, we’ll start to apply that to reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
Tax impact and next steps
Financial advisor Danielle Marino presented estimated average annual tax impacts for Question 1: $248 in Hopewell Borough, $284 in Hopewell Township, and $294 in Pennington Borough. She said Question 2 would add between $164 and $194 annually depending on municipality. Marino reminded viewers that impacts are based on assessed, not market, home values and that qualifying seniors may be eligible for combined state relief programs.
The virtual session concluded with building-level examples from Timberlane Principal Chris Turnbull and Toll Gate Principal Melissa Lauri, who described HVAC and space constraints affecting daily instruction. The district reiterated that the full recording and project information are available at hvrsd.org/vote.
MercerMe has been covering the referendum all year and stories connected to the referendum can be found here.
