BOE to Review Nearly $100M in Building Projects

Brick school board members will review a list of 34 capital improvement projects favored by a citizens' committee that chose those items out of an original 82 projects considered.

"Without renovation or replacement, many of the defects we have identified will get much worse," said David Fischer, one of the members of the Community Facilities Committee which provided board members with the list of projects.

The specifics of the 34 projects favored by the committee are not known. In a short presentation last week at a school board meeting, the committee did not break down what each project will entail, though board members and school administrators said the public will get to see that information before the Aug. 10 pre-agenda board meeting.

Fischer said moving forward with the 34 projects can net the district $39 million in state matching grants, known as Regular Operating District, or ROD, grants. The ROD grants are matching grants which cover 40 percent of an improvement project. That would mean the committee is favoring about $60 million in local taxpayer funding for a total of about $100 million in improvements.

That level of spending could be achieved only by putting a referendum in front of township voters — a move that would be sure to create a healthy dose of controversy.

But Fischer said work to improve school facilities is desperately needed.

Fischer said through tours of school buildings, he has seen exposed pipes and wires, electrical systems in need of upgrades, subcircuits built on top of other subcircuits and poor insulation. He also said some schools suffer from poor security and communications systems and substandard lighting.

"It's time to stop assessing blame, and it's time to move forward," said Superintendent Walter Hrycenko. "We all realize we will need to work together to accomplish the task at hand."

But the scope of the money the committee is favoring to be dedicated to such improvements could be too much for taxpayers to handle, some say.

"People might be shell-shocked when they open that envelope," said resident George Scott, on how the extra spending could affect taxes, if a potential referendum were to pass.

"There are taxpayers who are suffering greatly," resident Nan Coll told board members.

Hrycenko touted the potential benefits of improving the school facilities, however.

"If you have a good school system, it's going to help [home] sales," he said. "People are going to want to move to that community in order to go to those schools."

If school board members favor holding a referendum — on all or some of the projects supported by the committee – they will have to act soon. The ROD grants end Jan. 31, 2012, meaning the local share of the cost of the projects must be allocated before that date.

A referendum election in December must be approved at the board's August meeting to meet state deadlines, according to Hrycenko; a last-minute January ballot measure must be approved by the September meeting.

Even the prospect of a referendum — which would cost about $80,000 to hold — troubled board member Larry Reid.

"I don't want to gamble the board's money," he said. "What I've seen over the past years here is that the priority was staff and benefits. Nobody wants to hear that, but that's what happened. And there was nothing for capital projects. If this is our top priority, you have to get everyone, the administrators, the teachers, everyone, to say it's the top priority."

But board member Kim Terebush urged her fellow board members to keep an open mind, tour the district's schools and study the information packets distributed by the committee members.

"We need to be able to move these projects forward, and finally be able to come together as a board and deal with the deterioration," Terebush said.