N.J. Voters Pass $25.6 Million in School Construction Bonds

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey voters approved $25.6 million in school construction last Tuesday, passing four of the eight bond referendums put forth by several New Jersey school boards.

Approximately $50.8 million in total school construction was brought to the ballot in Atlantic, Bergen, Camden, Essex, Morris and Salem counties. The referendums presented will receive no state financial aid.

“That’s pretty quiet,” said Mike Yaple, public affairs officer with the New Jersey School Boards Association. “We’ve seen years with two dozen maybe three dozen construction proposals.”

March 12 is one of five dates each year that districts may present a referendum to voters. Since the economic downturn, Yaple said, construction referendums have become fewer, less expensive and with more immediacy than in years past.

However, the largest referendum in the lineup passed. In a close vote of 1,446 to 1,257, the voters of Livingston passed an $18.2 million referendum to construct additions to the district’s five elementary schools and bring full ADA compliance to Livingston High School.

“Livingston residents take great pride in their public schools and they made a long-term commitment to their excellence by the passage of this referendum,” said Brad Draeger, superintendent of Livingston Public Schools in a statement.

Construction for the project is to begin early next year.

Other proposals, such as the $17.5 million project to replace athletic fields turf, bleachers, track fencing and field houses at Hanover Park Regional in Morris County, fell by the wayside.

The approval of construction in Livingston coincides with trends that typically pass over athletic renovations and favor construction or renovation for academic purposes, Yaple said.

“The closer you are to the classroom, the more likely that voters will approve it,” he said.

Weymouth Township of Atlantic County approved a $980,000 referendum to make mechanical and electrical renovations to the township’s elementary school. Bergen County voters passed a $3.3 million bond to construct an athletic field complex including track, multipurpose athletic field, storage, restrooms and a concession stand. And Camden voters approved a $3 million renovation or replacement project for three school roofs.

Yaple said that though some counties are lucky, some New Jersey schools are in serious need of repairs, upgrades and renovations. Efforts to renovate schools becomes much different when the state allocates zero funding and voters are asked to approve a major undertaking when the economy is still struggling, he said.

“The message to voters is if you’re going to approve this you’re going to go on your own and pay for it by your local property taxes,” Yaple said.