HILLSDALE—A forum on George G. White Middle School, with renovation options ranging $45 million to $55 million, is set for Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at the school’s cafetorium.
The public input session marks the second of three special meetings scheduled by the district to engage parents, residents and taxpayers to drum up support for a referendum question planned for September 2024 on one of the renovation options.
A third such session is set for Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in the same venue.
School officials videotaped the first input session Oct. 5 and planned to record and post the Nov. 1 session, too. The Oct. 5 first meeting and slide show were posted within days to the district website. Residents can view the session and slide show by clicking on the links.
The gatherings are an effort by school officials to seek consensus on renovations before the school board votes to decide what option to put before voters next September. That vote is likely to occur in late January or February 2024, officials said.
Starting in November, the school board plans to initiate a pilot program to livestream and record its regular meetings to increase public awareness of its deliberations as well as keep the public informed of referendum-related information.
This past March, voters in a nearly 2:1 margin defeated an $82.7 million middle school replacement referendum, with residents nixing the proposal in all six voting districts. After the vote, residents criticized the proposal for increasing property taxes nearly $1,200 yearly on an average homeowner, minimal state aid, and failing to save the century-old middle school.
Superintendent Robert Lombardy told Pascack Press “The BOE wants to provide as much exposure for residents to learn about the referendum. As you are aware, the challenges at the George White facility have persisted for decades and the Board is committed to enhancing the learning setting and programming there.”
At the Oct. 5 forum, architect Joseph DiCara of DiCara Rubino Architects said that the state will reimburse up to 40% of costs for school renovations but only 2% to 4% of costs on new school construction.
Each of the three renovation options includes nearly three times the amount of state aid as the previous $82.7 million replacement referendum. Many residents had strongly criticized the prior referendum due to its low state aid reimbursement, which totaled only $5.4 million.
The state aid amounts listed for the renovation options start at $15.9 million for Option 1; $16.06 million for Option 2; and $16.09 million for Option 3. The bond is anticipated at a 25-year term.
Moreover, all three renovation options includes a full renovation at the middle school, including reconstruction of the current multipurpose room, additional parking and rerouting of the drop off zone, use of temporary classrooms (trailers) to house grades 5–8, and an artificial turf field.
See “School options range $45M to $55M: Pick due by February,” Michael Olohan, Oct. 16, 2023.