Architectural renderings of the proposed additions to the Knollwood School (above) and Sickles School. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a $15.6 million plan to create classrooms and improve security at the borough’s two schools.
But first, they’ve got to go to the right polling station.
Floor plans highlight the proposed changes to Sickles School, above, and Knollwood School in blue. (Click to enlarge.)
Because of an error on ballots sent out by Monmouth County, voters in five of the borough’s six election districts were misinformed about where they should vote, according to a notice posted on the town website last Tuesday.
All voting is to take place at the district 1 polling station, at Knollwood School on Hance Road, the borough said in correcting the mistake.
Polls open at 2 p.m. and close at 8 p.m.
At issue is a $15.6 million plan that would allow for full-day kindergarten at the Viola Sickles primary school, on Willow Street. The proposal calls for $12 million worth of work there, where a two-story addition would be built. A security vestibule would also be created.
The Knollwood middle school, on Hance Road, would get $3.6 million worth of work, including a new off-hours entryway on the building’s southwest corner and a long-overdue heating and air conditioning system for the gym.
Currently, the gym has to be “aired out” between classes by opening exterior doors, Superintendent Sean McNeil said at a presentation in May.
Under the referendum, the district is eligible for state aid that will offset 17.1 percent, or $3.77 million of the cost to local taxpayers, including interest, according to a FAQ on the district website.
The plan would add $259 in the first year to the annual tax bill on a home assessed at the current townwide average of $808,044. That figure would climb to $560 for debt service alone by 2031, a year after existing debt approved under a $9 million referendum in 2003 is paid off, officials said in May.
Here’s what McNeil said about the referendum in May, as reported by redbankgreen.
Here’s information about the proposals on the school district website.
