HILLSDALE—District officials said they look forward to presenting several middle school renovation options for parents and taxpayers to consider — including moving fifth graders back to the elementary schools and finding more space on the middle school property — after consultations with their architect over the summer.
The planned town-hall-style forums will be in late September or early October, said school officials. A date will be chosen by early or mid-September.
At the Aug. 28 school board meeting, school officials, including board President Nicole Klas, said trustees had a busy summer meeting with architect DiCara Rubino to discuss next steps following the March defeat of a referendum to replace the aged middle school with a new state-of-the art facility, plus a new artificial turf field.
On March 14, voters snubbed an $82.7 million school bond referendum to replace the century-old George G. White Middle School, which would have cost $1,140 annually on an average $474,172 home. The referendum was defeated 2,001 to 1,180, a nearly 2:1 margin, with 37% of local voters casting ballots; the question was defeated in all six polling districts.
(See “School referendum nixed in all six districts; ‘the challenge remains’,” Michael Olohan, April 3, 2023, Pascack Press.)
Trustee Justin Saxon said that architect DiCara Rubino had presented four or five options and discussed possibilities in several meetings with Klas and him. “We’re looking forward to bringing it to the public and letting them see it,” Klas said.
School trustees approved a contract Aug. 28 with DiCara Rubino Architects, Wayne, for pre- and post-September 2024 referendum architectural services. Pre-referendum services include new design/cost options for renovations at White, Meadowbrook and Smith schools; timelines and logistics implementation for each option; meetings with district officials; state documents submission; and public presentations as needed. Pre-referendum costs are estimated at $20,000, notes the DiCara Rubino proposal.
Post-referendum architect services will be charged at a flat fee of 6% of total construction costs for new buildings, and 7% of total construction costs for additions and renovations, said the proposal.
Lombardy said residents’ feedback from the June 1 forum was discussed with the architect, and noted there are “different complexities” to moving fifth graders back to the elementary schools to create space at George White.
Currently, fifth through eighth graders attend middle school.
He said moving the fifth graders back to elementary schools and the impacts and costs of such a move was one option; a second option might be finding more space on the current George White property for expansion. Lombardy said there may be “different modifications” of those options presented.
Both Lombardy and Klas said all renovation options involve putting students in trailers. He said the costs involved for renovations and trailers would be spelled out at the upcoming forum.
“Not to put the cart before the horse, the George White facility remains in need of significant renovation. That’s at the cornerstone of this project,” Lombardy said.
He said where a new middle school, as offered in the referendum, would have benefited the children of Hillsdale for a century, “the option now since that was not passed by the voters is how can we best improve this facility.”
Klas said “not everything can be done right now” and Lombardy added: “We’re going to have to pick and choose right now.”
Lombardy said the district will notify parents sometime after school starts to give them time to put the upcoming forum on their calendars. He said as the district is hoping for a September 2024 bond referendum vote on renovations, they need to finalize renovation plans by late fall or winter to meet state education department deadlines.
School officials said they would consider recording the upcoming forum for residents unable to attend, with Lombardy noting it could be done similar to a virtual public forum held for the March referendum that was recorded and put online for public viewing.
Klas said the district wants residents involved in the feedback process. “There’s no cheap option at this point. I think people just really have to understand that concept—it’s like a menu, we’re working with different options.” She said the options involved “disrupting” three schools, and also involved costs, trailers, sacrifices and logistics.
“People just have to come with an open mind and just see that we thought over a lot of stuff,” Klas said. She said officials have considered whether they want to offer an overall referendum question and then offer other questions for options that may be added on.
Resident Erin Hampton asked school officials about whether the forum would be recorded. She later said that the first June 1 forum, post-referendum defeat, had disappointed some residents who came looking for answers, and were told that school officials were taking notes and not providing answers.
(See “Board fields residents’ middle school recommendations,” Michael Olohan, June 12, 2023, Pascack Press.)
Hampton told Pascack Press that school officials, as she noted before, don’t need to livestream board meetings but simply record them and make them available for later viewing to enhance public access.
Several residents have pressed school trustees over the years to broadcast or record school board meetings — including Council board liaison Anthony DeRosa — especially in light of the board’s referendum outreach.
The school board did briefly broadcast and record meetings during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic but quickly went back to in-person meetings only.
The Borough Council livestreams and records its meetings.