District and borough officials stand with community members who helped to get the bond referendum passed in December at the groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of the projects.
Haddonfield residents demonstrated their appreciation for quality schools in the borough in December, when they voted to approve a $46.7-million bond referendum.
The planned improvements include more classroom space, full-day kindergarten programs, upgraded athletic facilities and building improvements that will provide more accessibility to disabled students and visitors.
A major step in getting things off the ground was taken on June 23, when district staff, Mayor Dave Siedell, Commissioner Itir Cole and community members gathered outside Elizabeth Haddon Elementary for a groundbreaking ceremony that celebrated the beginning of projects.
School board President Jaime Grookett delivered opening remarks to a crowd that had gathered under shade on a hot and humid morning.
“It’s a true honor to stand here today as we break ground on a project that represents far more than brick and mortar,” she noted. “It represents the strength, unity and values of the Haddonfield community.”
She then thanked those who made the improvements possible. They included the president of the Haddonfield Educational Trust Maureen Eyles; the mayor; David Hunter, founder of Haddonfield Today; school Superintendent Chuck Klaus; and the board of ed’s vice president, Linda Hochgertel.
Klaus spoke about how beneficial the scheduled improvements will be for the schools and the community as a whole.
“A little bit over two years ago,” he explained, “the Haddonfield board of education started on a journey to improve facilities to better equip us to meet the needs of our students and continue to grow and improve as one of the most elite school districts in the state of New Jersey.”
He then described some of the first projects at the schools, including abating and replacing mercury-containing floors at Elizabeth Haddon, Central and the high school; accessibility improvements that will make the high-school stadium ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible; and conversion of interior spaces at Haddon to add classroom space and provide for one section of extended-day kindergarten in each of the district’s schools.
Siedell talked about the referendum approval and how it reflected the town’s values.
“This is the first referendum in nearly 30 years that’s about growing the academic mission, and the fact that it passed overwhelmingly back in December tells you everything you need to know about Haddonfield,” he said.
“This town believes in education and it always has.”
When David Hunter addressed the groundbreaking audience, he told the story of how he and his friends in grade school worked to raise money for a swimming pool at their building. But they were into high school by the time it was finished. Yet Hunter went back to his old school a few years ago to see the pool and noticed tennis courts that had been there when he was a child.
“Suddenly it occurred to me that those tennis courts were there when I was in first grade, and that parents and students who preceded my generation had probably worked their bums off to get those courts built, and that perhaps some of the students who helped raise the money for those tennis courts never got to play on them themselves,” he noted.
Hunter’s story reflected the importance of participating in initiatives like the referendum – whether there is personal gain or not.
District staff, borough officials and community members who helped make the referendum possible then put on white hard hats and held gold shovels to symbolically celebrate the start of the projects.
