Bridgewater-Raritan district steps up campaign for $154 million March 14 referendum

BRIDGEWATER - The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education finally made it official.

The board took the official vote last week to set March 14 as the date of a two-part $154 million referendum.

The first question asks residents to approve $120 million to upgrade all of the district's schools, some of which are 60 years old, and some with original windows, doors and other infrastructure items that have reached the end of their function.

The second question, which can only be approved if the first question passes, proposes a Middle School addition, a new cafeteria at Bradley Gardens School and a resolution to the lingering decade-old question whether the district should offer a full-day kindergarten program. That referendum would cost $34 million.

Because the district is retiring debt and the state is offering debt service, the first part of the referendum would have no impact on taxes, the board said.

The second question would increase the tax on an average Bridgewater home assessed at $465,000 by $111 per year and on the average Raritan home assessed at $321,630 by $84 a year.

Those projections are based on a 4.5% interest rate.

There will be a third referendum on the November general election ballot whether residents want to approve $2.4 million in the budget to fund the full-day kindergarten.

And now the campaign to educate the public has begun in earnest.

Besides the district's website offering comprehensive information on the project, the school board and administration have set an ambitious schedule of public meetings to present the proposals which have been in the works for two years. Presentations have been scheduled before the Bridgewater Township Council and the Raritan Borough Council and a community forum open to all residents is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 21 in the high school auditorium.

In addition, pamphlets about the referendum will be mailed to all district homes in the weeks before the vote.

Board members are confident the projects are needed.

"It's the right thing to do," Board Vice President Barry Walker said at last week's meeting. "We're looking out for our students' future."

The original scope of the work amounted to $260 million, but the board pared down the project because board members were "adamant" it would have no impact on taxes, he said.

"If not now, when?" Board Member Jennifer Loughran said.

Bridgewater-Raritan Superintendent of Schools Robert Beers strongly advocated a full-day kindergarten program.

Only 11 school districts in the state do not have full-day kindergarten, he said.

"We do not want to be one of the last to offer this service," he said, adding that a full-day kindergarten is not "daycare" because of state standards.

A full-day kindergarten, he said, "levels the playing field" and produces "significantly" better outcomes for pupils.

"Our goal is to provide the same opportunity to every single student who through our doors" no matter what school they are attending, he said.

A half-day kindergarten, he said, puts Bridgewater-Raritan pupils at a "disadvantage" to pupils in districts with full-day programs.

"Bridgewater-Raritan has been known as a cutting edge district," Beer said. "We should be the leaders."

Laura Kress, president of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association, the teachers union, agreed with Beers that Bridgewater-Raritan should remain a "cutting edge" district.

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She said the district "kicked it down the road" a decade ago when the need for renovations and upgrades became apparent.

Kress said that conditions in the schools are "embarrassing in some places."

"If we want this school district to stay on top and we want the value of our homes to stay up," Kress said, "we have to maintain our schools."

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater-Raritan district steps up campaign for $154 million March 14 referendum