Residents in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District voted overwhelmingly to approve a $35-million bond referendum for facilities improvements and repairs in a special vote held Sept. 27.
The district reports that 1,825 voted for the measure and 995 against. The turnout of 2,820 was less than one-sixth of the district’s 17,465 registered voters. Overall, 10 of the 11 precincts approved the measure, with only Precinct 2, whose constituents voted at Union Fire House, voting against it, 142-141. Complete results are online at hvrsd.org.
The school board and administration pushed hard for the referendum, which will be used to fund an estimated $15M in roof and HVAC improvements, plus a $5.2-million Arts and Wellness Space at the high school, among other initiatives.
Throughout the past three years, the district worked with architects to estimate project costs and specifications that were laid out in the referendum. Superintendent Thomas Smith said he will meet with architects again in early October to settle on final designs and prepare projects for bidding. He hopes roof and HVAC work can begin as early as spring 2017.
Smith said the vision, guidance and support of the school board, particularly president Lisa Wolff, was crucial to the referendum and its passage.
“It really couldn’t have happened without them,” he said. “It’s really because of Lisa’s leadership that we were able to move forward.” He also expressed gratitude to the many parents and community members who supported the district’s get-out-the-vote effort.
Wolff said she appreciated the support of the local municipalities, especially the mayors of Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough and Pennington, who met with the board before, during and after the referendum process. She also pushed credit back to Smith for the work he has done on the project.
“One of the main reasons this was successful was because of the transparency the district showed throughout the process, and Tom Smith was the reason for all of it,” she said.
Smith said residents will be able to stay up to date throughout the process with updates that will be posted to the district website.
“I think we made a good case for how we were doing it,” he said, reflecting on the district’s big win. “We have some debt that is retiring, interest rates are low, there’s the state program that will provide some money,” he said. “I think people who took the time to get educated easily supported the referendum.”
65 percent of voters supported the $35M bond for school improvements.,
