To the Editor:
A mailer sent to Hopewell Valley homes last week stated that the school bond referendum Question 2 is not necessary.
The additional classrooms and improvements in Question 2, essential for enhancing students’ experiences at both Toll Gate Grammar School and Bear Tavern Elementary School, are needed now more than ever. A bond referendum is the only path toward upfront funding for these projects.
Here’s why the mailer message is out of touch with what our students are facing.
Extra classrooms help all schools
Question 2 includes expansions at Bear Tavern and Toll Gate schools, where enrollment is rising, and trailers are used for an overflow of students.
Bear Tavern Elementary School has seen an enrollment increase of 25% over last year, with 503 students enrolled this year. As a result, targeted redistricting has been necessary. Students are being sent to Stony Brook, which is now seeing its own surge in enrollment, up from 374 students last year to 466 this year – also a 25% increase.
So, how would additions at other schools help Stony Brook? And Hopewell, our other elementary school?
As enrollment grows, the district is using targeted redistricting to manage class sizes. Without space to expand, all four elementary schools will absorb significantly more students – regardless of whether the students live in the school neighborhood.
Question 2 includes additions at two schools that would ease pressure on all the buildings – and provide the type of learning environment that matches our high-quality instruction and that families have come to expect.
Other crucial projects in Question 2
Question 2 includes much-needed improvements for Toll Gate that go beyond additional classrooms. Among the plans is a redesign of the current nurse’s office, which lacks both a bathroom and adequate privacy for students who are ill or injured. The new nurse’s office would have an ADA-accessible bathroom.
The proposal also would restore a dedicated faculty restroom. Because of plumbing challenges, the existing “faculty” restroom was once a student bathroom that had to be reassigned, leaving fewer facilities for children. Question 2 also addresses the shortage of office and storage space for our Health and Physical Education programs. Right now, the stage — intended for student performances — has been repurposed to fill that need. These are practical updates that will make our school safer, more functional, and more supportive of our students and staff.
Bond borrowing addresses needs now
If voters approve Question 2, the district’s architects will immediately begin designing the building additions and preparing to award contracts to the lowest qualified bidders. Question 2 can only pass if Question 1 – which includes critical infrastructure needs such as HVAC, roofs, and more secure doors – also passes.
The bond-funded construction would follow the established, regulated process outlined by the NJ Department of Education.
The district values its partnership with Hopewell Township and appreciates the municipality’s commitment of $16.1 million in PILOT funding toward the Bear Tavern expansion.
But PILOT funding is a promise for the future. The need for space is here now.
PILOT funding is unavailable to the district as litigation over Hopewell Township’s PILOT development continues. Whenever the litigation is resolved and the municipality and district structure a funding agreement, the PILOT funds would be applied to the debt service for the Bear Tavern project, reducing property tax bills.
In the meantime, the timeline to receive PILOT funding is uncertain.
Facts to know about school funding
We want voters to be able to make informed decisions based on the facts. Here are corrections and clarifications to the statements on last week’s mailer:
- The Toll Gate project is not unfunded through the referendum, nor is Bear Tavern. The district would receive upfront funding to complete both projects and pay for them over time, much like a homeowner uses a home equity loan.
- School debt payments on property tax bills will not be compounded each year. The debt service is spread over the life of the 20-year bonds, with payments as even as possible over time. The state reimburses the district for the principal and interest with the debt service aid. Also, the interest rate is fixed at the lowest competitive rate once the bonds are sold following a successful referendum.
- The mailer conflates the annual budget and bond funding, which serve different district needs. The budget is for educational costs and must keep pace with the rising costs of supplies, benefits, utilities, and more. The bond referendum is for large-scale building needs that exceed the funding available in the annual budget.
- The payments for referendum projects would start appearing on tax bills in August 2026.
- The mailer suggested that the district use its Capital Reserve to fund a larger, ADA-accessible nurse’s office at Toll Gate – a project included in Question 2. We need our Capital Reserve available for emergencies and to qualify for grant opportunities. For example, a state grant will reimburse 40 percent of a current boiler project at the high school, but the district must cover the full cost upfront through the money in its Capital Reserve.
The district has been keeping voters informed through a website, hvrsd.org/vote, and outreach events, including a Virtual Town Hall.
Please continue to follow the website and social media channels for information and updates as we prepare for the Nov. 4 bond referendum.
Thank you,
Rosetta Treece, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Hopewell Valley Regional School District
