RUMSON – The Rumson School District is posing a $25.74 million question on the Nov. 5 election ballot.
The district, which serves children from pre-K through eighth-grade, will ask voters to weigh in on a 20-year bond referendum that, if approved, could add about $22 to the tax bill of the average Rumson homeowner with a home valuation of $1,392,000. According to superintendent John E. Bormann, Ed.D., the projection “is a very conservative number” and the price could come in under that.
“This is an opportunity that will have a lasting impact, not just on students who are currently enrolled, but for many, many years,” Bormann said of the referendum.
The three major components proposed in the referendum would address safety and security, enrollment and programming needs and concerns. According to Bormann, the district has many security systems in place, but they need updating to bring everything up to standards. “We would like to see everything matching to what the new school codes are,” he said.
Enrollment has been increasing in both the Deane-Porter and Forrestdale schools and there are currently over 1,000 students in the district. At the same time, the district has developed many new programs like drama, STEM and small-group instruction, which take up space. “With the combination of increasing programs and enrollment, we’re at a point now where we need to look forward into the future and ensure we have ample space in the district for both programs and enrollment,” he said.
As proposed, upgrades in the referendum would include an on-site bus loop; secure entrances to both schools; classroom door and hardware replacements; corridor renovations; HVAC upgrades; a new multipurpose room addition; locker room renovations at Forrestdale; media center renovations and Forrestdale science room upgrades; and secure classrooms at Deane-Porter, among other needs.
Bormann said the HVAC systems must be replaced and are “aging out and costly to the operating budget.” In some cases, the aging systems are “almost impossible” to maintain while trying to be fiscally responsible in updating them, he said. The district has been working with the state to create an energy savings improvement plan so that it would not have to include that in the Nov. 5 referendum.
If the referendum fails, the district will need to look for any possible way to get the work done, especially for the mechanical systems that need updating. They would also need to look at altered programs for students, which could have a “detrimental impact” on the general operating budget, Bormann said. The existing budget would not be able to support the upgrades. Additionally, the district would not be able to utilize state aid that could be offered, as much as up to 40 percent, to complete the work if approved by referendum.
When asked what he thinks voters should keep in mind when they head to the polls Nov. 5, Bormann said it’s that the district has made great progress igniting the potential in its students and community over the years and that these upgrades could help the schools “continue that pathway into the future for our students.”
