Denville school district buys land, extends lease, with eye toward ‘expected expansion’
Fourth and fifth graders in Denville will continue to attend classes at the Riverview School Annex at St. Mary's Church as the township's K-8 district considers expansion plans for an anticipated "growing student population."
A new lease at St. Mary's, running through 2029, was among the initiatives announced by the district on Jan. 31, along with the acquisition of 3 acres of land next to 25 acres already owned by the district off Nichols Drive.
The Board of Education authorized the $609,000 purchase in December "to allow flexibility for expected expansion in the future," Superintendent Steven Forte stated in a district announcement.
“This parcel adds land that is suitable for a school, not wetlands, to the district’s existing property,” Forte said of the parcel, which is south of Route 10. “Additionally, the road frontage is very important to add to our current acreage in the same location.”
The acquisition follows a 2022 demographic study by the district that concluded Denville wouldn't need to expand facilities to accommodate estimated growth through the 2026-27 school year. The report also warned, however, that expansion could be necessary if pre-K enrollment were to grow or if future state-mandated affordable housing obligations increase beyond expectations.
The district's latest announcement estimates a possible enrollment increase of as many as 555 students by 2026-27.
More: Morris, Monmouth took different paths on affordable housing. Why Morris has fared better
Riverview Annex could expand
Anticipating the potential growth, the study recommended expanding the Riverview Annex now.
The St, Mary's lease addendum, which runs through June 30, 2029, provides an option for the district to utilize the building’s four second-floor classrooms that are not currently in use. That would require a new roof on the facility, with the parish agreeing to supervise and fund the estimated $600,000 project.
The district would reimburse the cost of the roof using capital reserves, and then be reimbursed for 65% of those funds through rent reductions that will begin in the second year of the lease, Denville explained in its announcement.
“This lease extension will continue to provide needed space in the elementary schools,” Forte stated in the release. “Use of the parish building as the Riverview Annex will continue to allow the district to effectively manage growth in enrollment at a very reasonable cost.”
St. Mary's closes, reopens
The Denville district operates two elementary schools, Riverview and Lakeview, as well as Valleyview Middle School, with 200 total faculty members and 350 employees. High school students in Denville attend Morris Knolls High School in the Morris Hills Regional District, which also serves Wharton and the Rockaways.
The former St. Mary’s School closed in 2019 and the district occupied the first floor the next year, moving fourth and fifth graders there from the neighboring Riverview Elementary School. At the time, Forte noted the district had just enrolled its largest kindergarten class in a decade.
Prior to that, the district used trailers to address overcrowding at Riverview from 1999 to 2015, the demographic study said.
Purchased land could become new school
The addendum to the Annex lease will give the district "room to grow while maintaining class sizes across both elementary schools," Denville Board of Education President Won James Kim explained in the announcement.
The land acquisition, meanwhile, adds to a parcel where another school could be built if necessary.
“These measures give us flexibility going into the future,” Kim stated. “Taking these steps now provides us with more options while we continue to evaluate school space needs for the future.”
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Denville school district buys land, extends lease with eye on growth
