The Berkeley Heights School District is hosting several opportunities for residents to watch a presentation on the referendum. At these meetings, the district has provided tri-fold flyers describing the work that is being proposed, the projects tied to the two questions, and how voting will impact taxes.
There is one paragraph in this flyer that deserves scrutiny. It reads:
“Please know that all of this work needs to be done regardless of the passage of the referendum. The district would be forced to complete this work over time out of the capital budget and would forfeit nearly $17 million in state aid.”
Let’s break this paragraph down line by line.
“…all of this work needs to be done regardless…”
This is simply not true.
There is no urgent structural or mechanical need for renovation of the libraries (media centers). The libraries are among the least-used spaces in our schools. I’m not arguing that they aren’t important, but the vast majority of our children’s time at school is spent in the classrooms.
At the elementary schools, students visit the library an average of two times a week, with a possible third or fourth visit, since the rooms are utilized during WIN periods.
At Columbia Middle School, I didn’t even know they had a library, as my children never stepped foot in the space.
Governor Livingston limits the number of kids who are allowed in the library at one time to 30 students. For the most part, the IMC at GL – as the library is referred to – is only available during lunch, where it becomes more of a lounge than a library, and during study halls, which not all students have in their schedules.
Solutions Architects presenter, Tom Strauser addressed this matter, when I brought it up to him, by saying that with renovations, the district feels the spaces will be utilized more. One hopes that will be the case, but students’ schedules will still dictate how often they are able to take advantage of these rooms.
Again, kids spend far more time in classrooms.
Resident can and have asked why the referendum places media centers at a higher priority than upgrades to STEM classrooms and labs.
Security is placed in the first question. This category will include upgrades to cameras and public address systems. Given our current spending on security, $400,000 per year, any work deemed “necessary” can easily come out of that budget. To give a frame of reference, a grant I’m currently working on provided for security cameras. The cost of 13 cameras, installation, and 5 years of monitoring cost the recipient $15,261.
More importantly, the district’s definition of “need” in this category is questionable. We spent nearly $100,000 last year on a scanner and related service from Raptor.
Was this work that “need(ed) to be done regardless”?
Do we really need law enforcement on site for school plays and concerts?
Existing cameras have not resulted in a decrease in HIB (harrassment, intimidation and bullying), and Berkeley Heights remains among the districts with the highest numbers. They didn’t stop a student from bringing a box cutter to school, and didn’t keep a student from setting a bathroom on fire. Why does the district “need” new cameras when the ones we have don’t seem to be effective at improving security, and are still in working order?
The roof at Woodruff DOES need to be replaced. According to Solutions Architecture, all the roofs need at least partial replacement, yet they stated during the November presentation that there isn’t a “dire” need and that the work wouldn’t be done immediately. And yet… they placed most of the roof repair – which residents said was one of their highest priorities – in question two.
Why did the district place a project with the highest support in the ‘less needed, might not pass’ question?
The TV studio is the only project in question one that would directly impact student learning.
“The district would be forced to complete this work over time out of the capital budget”.
True and false at the same time.
The work that is not a necessity doesn’t “need” to be done. As pointed out above, most of the work included in question one falls in the ‘nice to have’ category. As for the “over time” part, even if the referendum passes this work is going to be done over time, on a three- to five-year timeline. This gives the district time to revise the yearly operating budget and bring it in line with what surrounding districts spend, as Berkeley Heights spends more per pupil yet has lower test scores and rankings.
“…would forfeit nearly $17 million in state aid.”
This is one of the more provocative claims being made.
“Forfeit” implies that this state aid needs to be used with THIS referendum, otherwise we will not ever see that money again.
This is misleading.
State aid is available for ANY referendum where the projects are tied to education or maintenance of the school facilities. If we don’t like this referendum and the way it’s set up, we can vote ‘No’, and the district can re-do it.
We will still qualify for state aid to help pay for the costs.
Will it take time? Yes.
However, given the years-long timeline we are facing, it wouldn’t make an enormous amount of difference. Emergency or time-sensitive work can be done out of the capital funds held by the district. In the interim, the district can reprioritize spending and show that they truly care about education by eliminating spending on things like fighting OPRA requests and bloating the security budget.
Our goal in covering the Berkeley Heights Public School referendum, as with any major local government decision, is to provide a platform for residents to make informed decisions, share their perspective, and be armed with the right questions to ask.
We hope residents avoid either cheerleading or trashing the referendum — the best approach is to ask hard questions and encourage the BOE and Administration to make changes that better serve the needs of our students while also respecting the economic realities families face in our community.
Our Referendum Hub provides a thorough fact-based analysis of what works and what needs to change.
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