The Moorestown school district’s bond referendum vote on Tuesday, March 11, has been rescheduled, with the next date for a vote being Tuesday, Sept. 16.
“While we’re certainly disappointed that we’re not going to be able to meet the deadlines and that we have to push it off, I think, on a positive note, it does afford us an opportunity to continue to hear from the community …” said school board President Mark Villanueva at a Jan. 7 meeting. “This additional time will provide us an opportunity to digest the information that we received from the state and to further consider, very seriously, the issues that have been brought to our attention.
“I want everybody to understand that we hear you, and we are taking (your) comments very, very seriously, and appreciate everything that we’ve heard.”
The school district sent 18 potential construction projects to the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) to determine how much state funding will offset local taxes, according to the Moorestown Patch. School officials will then decide which of those upgrades to include on the referendum ballot.
The projects have a combined price tag of $100 million, and the state must decide how much funding will be allocated for each one. That was projected to happen last month. According to Interim Superintendent Joe Bollendorf, district officials would then decide which projects to put on the ballot. Ballot questions were expected to be submitted at least 60 days before the vote (Jan. 9).
“My understanding is that … there’s been a number of school districts in the state that have submitted for capital referendum projects, and so that means that there were a lot of applications with the DOE,” Villanueva explained. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the response from the state until yesterday afternoon (Jan. 6) …
“After meeting with our professionals and with counsel,” he added, “the board concluded that we needed more time to digest the information that we received from the state, and unfortunately, we are not going to be able to submit the questions to the county by 9 a.m. Thursday (Jan. 9).”
There will be more to come on that front in the coming weeks and months, Villanueva said.
As part of the referendum, the district would create a fenced bus yard in the back-left corner of the Moorestown Upper Elementary School (UES) field. That would store up to 18 full-sized buses, a dozen small buses and a caravan. The district’s bus depot is currently located at the Moorestown High School parking lot. Several residents voiced concerns on that during public comment at the board’s Jan. 7 meeting.
“I’m just a regular person, and the physicians that have spoken and the experts in the field, if you’re not going to listen to them, you’re sure not going to listen to me,” said resident Irfan Majid. “We have to trust the experts. I can sit here and be emotional about the whole situation, but we have to trust the experts. If a doctor is telling you that having buses near a school is not a good idea, then that’s what it should be.
“It’s science,” Majid added. “If we disregard that, I think that would just be ignorant, and we would be doing a disservice to our children.”
“This is definitely going to increase the incidences of childhood asthma and respiratory problems for sure,” observed resident and pulmonologist Rohit Malik. “We see a lot of claims from people who are exposed to things like this at work, and you’ll start seeing more health claims because of this. So, I also urge you to reconsider this.”
“It’s my belief that if you care about the health and well-being of elementary students, this portion of the plan should be eliminated,” asserted resident Tamara Solitro. “You’re shrinking the play space for UES students at a time when the student population is rapidly growing … There’s going to be increased respiratory risk for sure in the short term … but also the staff are going to be exposed and at risk.
“I worry about the fumes and chemicals over time,” she added. “It just seems to me that it’s a massive expense for which we’re likely to get no state credit, and it’s putting us at risk of health concerns and limiting recreational space for kids.
“I just don’t see the upside.”
Villanueva responded to the comments by noting that moving the bus depot is critical.
“Part of moving the bus depot is to open up space on the high-school campus to improve traffic flow,” he pointed out. “Another really important part of it (is) … the bus maintenance bay is in the high school, and I don’t think that’s a great situation to be in. This provides the opportunity to reclaim that space, not just for an additional classroom. It’s additional space that we can do any number of new things with, including improving and expanding our curricular offerings …
“This referendum, if it passes, is significant,” Villaneuva continued. “It’s a significant benefit to our students, to our community and to our schools which, I think most people know, is a real draw to Moorestown.”
Earlier in the meeting, newly elected board members Melissa Arcaro Burns, Ruchika Arora and Jill Fallows Macaluso were sworn in by school board secretary and Business Administrator James Heiser. Villanueva was elected president and Danielle Miller vice president.
To watch the meeting, search for Moorestown board of education on YouTube.
