High Point to try again with school referendum

WANTAGE-Rejected by just 47 votes two weeks ago, the High Point Regional Board of Education will take a $10.2-million referendum back to the voters in December. On Oct. 3, the board voted unanimously to ask voters to return to the polls in December to reconsider the issue, which would allow the school to add 11 new classrooms, renovate and convert five existing classrooms into nine general classrooms, refurbish the auditorium, upgrade and add equipment to the woodshop and improve the school’s electrical, telecommunications, and sewerage treatment systems. Board President Thomas Case said the school’s growing enrollment justifies the project. “Because we believe the project is so necessary, and because we think we can never again do this more cheaply, we are going to present this to the public one more time,” Case said. “This is the right thing to do and the right time to do it. “We need the parents of the future High Point students to get out and say, ‘My kids are in elementary or middle school, and we want the best for them when they get to high school,’” he added. “Unless parents and teachers from all the sending municipalities buy into the referendum we won’t succeed,” said Edward Vander Berg, a board member from Wantage. The board is mulling over whether to restructure the referendum to increase the time span over which taxpayers would repay bonds issued to pay for the improvements. Repaying the bonds over a longer period will reduce the annual tax impact. The board is also considering breaking the project into two or more ballot questions, with one addressing expansion of the school and the other the $470,000 needed to repair the auditorium and the $146,000 required to renovate the woodworking shop. “Public interest in this issue is high right now, and momentum may be working in our favor,” said Larry Marro of Lafayette. “We should do whatever we need to do to get another shot. The referendum was fiscally sound, and what High Point needs. We’re still teaching physics in the cafeteria. Giving the students the best we can is a win-win situation,” said Tom Costello, the high school’s science education supervisor. Board members debated the pros and cons of delaying the election until Jan. 24 or later, but ultimately decided to come back in a special election on Dec. 13. At issue were the merits of coordinating the High Point referendum with the school referendum Sussex-Wantage may be having at the same time. In a closely related issue, Sussex Borough and Wantage, which have a joint school district, are considering whether to ask voters to reconsider $20-million school referendum turned down last March. Had the referendum passed, the funds would have paid to renovate three school buildings in Wantage. State law dictates the dates on which elections may be held. By law, the board’s letter of intent to hold the referendum must be field with the Board of Elections by Oct. 14 for a December election. “The longer we delay, the more everything will cost,” Marro said. Architect David R. Fraytak said that more than 80 percent of all materials used to renovate a school are petroleum based. “We don’t know where oil prices are going in the next several months,” Fraytak said. Board members decried the low voter turnout, citing complacency amongst parents and teachers as the probable cause. Voters from the five sending municipalities defeated the Sept. 27, referendum by 47 votes. Only 2,027 voters made it to the polls. The total population of the five sending municipalities is approximately 22,000. “The referendum is just, the renovations are needed, but we didn’t contact all the right people,” said Jim Nelson, a board member from Wantage. The school was built in the late 1960s to serve a maximum of 1,200 students. In the 2005-2006 school year enrollment has risen to 1,400 and school administrators expect it to climb even higher in the next several years. With student enrollment rising and the school building aging, the High Point High School administration says it’s time update the school. The board is composed of members from each of the five sending municipalities, Branchville, Frankford, Lafayette, Sussex and Wantage. The Sussex-Wantage Taxpayers Association took no position on the Sept. 27 High Point High School, according to member Rudy Solar of Wantage. The Wantage Township Taxpayers Association did not actively campaign against the referendum, but neither did they support it. Should the referendum pass, the local share of the expenses for the project would amount to $7 million (68.3 percent), with the State awarding the additional $3,247,302 million (31.7 percent) required to complete the project, most likely through State assistance in paying the debt-service costs. Under the terms of the Sept. 27 referendum, taxes for residents of the High Point Regional School District community would have been approximately $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value for the life of the debt. Restructuring the time span would result in lower annual tax costs.