HILLSDALE—More than two dozen residents attended the Hillsdale Public Schools final question-and-answer session on the $62.4 million George White renovation referendum, Aug. 26, peppering officials and the project architect with questions about costs, property tax impacts, and why repairs were not made sooner.
Officials answered residents’ questions with often detailed responses and noted that the renovation referendum satisfies three priorities requested by residents: saving George White Middle School, reducing costs, and increasing the project’s state aid.
In addition, school officials directed residents with questions about the referendum to visit the referendum website, which addresses many concerns, including a “Planning for Transition” section. This section explains how 26 modular classrooms will be laid out on the current George White baseball fields and details how academics, safety, security, and a construction plan will be carried out during middle school renovations.
Fifth graders will temporarily return to the elementary schools during renovations, which are estimated to take two years. Each school would likely receive a modular classroom onsite to facilitate support services such as speech therapy or basic skills programming.
Board Vice President Christina Jennings said “many changes” in superintendents before 2018, when Supt. Robert Lombardy was hired, made it difficult to address a large capital project such as upgrades to the 102-year-old middle school.
Lombardy called the efforts to present a middle school referendum in 2023 and now in 2024 a “significant time consumer” and noted that the district has a “strategic plan” to maintain local schools.
Board President Justin Saxon said that Lombardy and Business Administrator Sacha Pouliot were “very proactive” in maintaining the district’s two elementary schools and middle school. Hillsdale and River Vale high school students (grades 9–12) attend Pascack Valley Regional High School in Hillsdale.
Should the referendum pass, officials said the district will receive $18 million in state aid for the middle school renovation. Under the prior replacement proposal that voters defeated nearly 2-to-1 in March 2023, the district was to receive only $5.4 million, officials said.
The Aug. 26 forum described the upcoming two-question ballot proposal that will be decided by voters on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at two polling places: Pascack Valley High School (200 Piermont Ave.) and Ann Blanche Smith School (1000 Hillsdale Ave.).
Lombardy, school trustees, and the district’s architect and financial professional answered questions over a nearly two-hour public forum at Meadowbrook School. Officials said they would post the Aug. 26 video on the district’s referendum website.
Officials also noted that voters must vote “yes” or approve Question 1, which addresses the full renovation ($55.3 million) of George White, before Question 2 ($7.1 million) for the construction of a new two-story wing with six classrooms can be voted on or approved. Officials said if a voter votes “no” on the first question, they do not vote on the second question. If they vote “yes” on Question 1, they may also cast a vote on Question 2.
School officials hope voters will approve both questions, as Question 1’s full middle school renovations are long overdue, and Question 2’s six new classrooms in a two-story addition will provide room for STEM classes and projected enrollment increases.
If both questions are not approved, Lombardy said it was highly likely school officials would return with another referendum in a year or so to build more middle school classrooms, which would cost more due to inflation, increased material costs, and a new contractor needing to start from scratch on the project. Question 2’s cost to add six classrooms is $7 million.
What they’re saying
“When you pay for good schools, your property values stay high.”
— Jean Armitage, Trinity Place resident“If both questions are not approved, it’s highly likely school officials will return with another referendum in a year or so.”
— Superintendent Robert Lombardy“We need to approve Question 1 to move forward with full middle school renovations; then, Question 2 will allow us to expand for future needs.”
— School Board President Justin Saxon“Delaying or phasing construction would only increase costs due to inflation and other logistical complications.”
— Architect Joseph DiCara“The referendum satisfies three priorities requested by residents: saving George White Middle School, reducing costs, and increasing state aid.”
— District officials
Officials said the average homeowner ($476,107 assessed value) will pay approximately $840 more yearly if the referendum passes. Trustee Kevin Donatello advised residents to look up their property’s assessed value for free on njpropertyrecords.com to better determine what their yearly tax increase will likely be. He also noted that the referendum website includes a chart outlining tax impacts on assessed home values ranging from $350,000 to $600,000.
Architect Joseph DiCara, of DiCara Rubino Architects, said that having the contractor already working on middle school renovations and also building the two-story addition would save money by completing both construction projects at the same time. Previously, residents questioned if costs could be lower by doing construction in phases over years. DiCara said this would not reduce costs.
He said going out to bid to add six more classrooms in a year or two would cost much more. Plus, DiCara said, the added logistical complications of possibly working with students still in the school would add to overall project costs. The proposed renovation will temporarily house students in “modular classrooms” to be set up across from the middle school for 18–24 months during construction, DiCara said.
Lombardy noted the modular classroom setups will keep sixth, seventh, and eighth graders together in “hubs” to “replicate the student experience” by maintaining a typical middle schooler’s academic and recreation schedule.
DiCara told attendees he was “very comfortable” with the referendum’s estimated construction costs, noting his firm had 40-plus years of construction experience.
If voters approve, the district estimated the project to go out for bids in early 2025, with middle school renovations and modular classroom installations to start in summer 2025, and a fall 2027 target date for reopening a newly renovated George White Middle School.
DiCara also recommended that the district hire a construction manager to oversee day-to-day construction activities occurring onsite and to move construction along in a timely manner. DiCara said a construction management company would generally keep two employees on-site to monitor daily construction progress.
He said the renovation contract will include “milestone dates” or deadlines that the contractor must meet for the project. He said if the contractor does not meet a milestone date, they can be charged a monetary penalty every day moving forward for not meeting the required deadlines.
School officials have held two recent public forums for residents to ask questions, including an online-only forum on Aug. 7 that attracted dozens of viewers and had 221 views on its
90-minute YouTube video as of Aug. 27. Residents can access the video on the district’s referendum website.
Jean Armitage, of Trinity Place, said she was concerned about increased traffic, buses, and parking affecting her street. She also noted she was “befuddled” that it took so many years to repair the middle school.
Lombardy noted that some middle school fixes, such as possibly replacing boilers, were “multi-million dollar items” and could not be done right away.
“When you pay for good schools, your property values stay high,” Armitage said.
Officials have repeatedly noted that high-quality schools are a factor in increasing local property values.