We have often been on different sides of issues in Hopewell Valley over the past 25 years, but today, there’s an important issue we can agree on: voters should reject the proposed $87.1 million Hopewell Valley Regional Schools District referendum in September.
We are taxed enough already (see teahv.org) and do not need additional funding for a bunch of new school projects. HVRSD schools have the highest per pupil costs in Mercer County and among the highest in the state, with Valley families paying an average of $23,774 per enrolled student per year as of 2022-23, according to the Department of Education.
Believe it or not, in the most recently approved budget, HVRSD costs surged to well over $26,000 per pupil. Per pupil spending is higher than Princeton, West Windsor, Montgomery and most other top-tier districts. School funding has increased massively over the past 15 years, despite the district’s declining enrollment.
In 2016, residents supported a $36 million referendum for deferred maintenance at our schools, including important HVAC and security improvements in all schools and significant roof work. Seems a bit odd that the headline projects in this new referendum are ones we’ve already paid for.
We need full transparency on the proposed projects and should push the district to make hard choices on wants versus needs. For example, do we really need new turf fields at the middle school? Why not break the referendum into two parts and pass the true “must haves” now, and submit a second referendum question to voters after the administration has prioritized the other “nice to have” capital projects. Can district officials honestly claim that the entire $87 million of spending is essential?
One final note: the HVRSD district has over $15 million in audited reserves as of last June. Yes, you read that right: we’ve got $15 million in the bank — more reserves than all like-sized Mercer County school districts. Still, they want to charge another $87 million to our credit cards. Why not use some of this money first to offset a portion of the project costs instead of asking our seniors, single moms and long-time farming families to pay more?
Most of us can think of lots of stuff we’d love to add to our personal household, yet we show necessary restraint to spend within our means.
District administrators should be held accountable to the same standards. Putting this ask of Valley taxpayers into perspective: in their current 2023-24 budget, HVRSD increased our taxes more than 4% over the previous year for a total tax levy of $86.7 million. This referendum adds another $87 million, more than their highest ever total annual tax levy.
We have asked the district for a detailed breakdown of each proposed capital project in the referendum and plan to share a second letter and update in next month’s Hopewell Express. We’re all for strong schools, but it can’t be at any price. Together, we need to send a message to the school administration, to focus on value, and restore responsible budgeting.
John Hart and Vanessa Sandom are former Hopewell Township mayors and long-time Hopewell Valley residents.
