Manville voters approve $4 million in school improvements
MANVILLE – Borough voters overwhelmingly approved a $3.95 million bond referendum on Tuesday for improvements to three schools.
The referendum passed with 80% of the vote, 508-132, according to unofficial results.
Mail-in votes will continue to be counted for one week, and the results will be certified on Feb. 7.
The projects include boiler and roof replacements at Weston School; an auditorium conversion to the multipurpose room at Weston School; HVAC installation in the gym and auditorium at Weston School; and kitchen floor replacements at Manville High School and Alexander Batcho Intermediate School.
"This will allow us to address critical projects that will improve the day-to-day experiences of our students while bringing back 47% of the total cost of the project, or $1.85 million, to Manville from New Jersey in the form of debt service aid,” Superintendent of Schools Jamil Maroun said. “It is a total win-win for the community."
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Because of state aid, the referendum will have no impact on property taxes, according to district officials.
The district will fund through its capital reserves about 53% or $2.09 million of the project's total cost.
"This a long time coming. We really want to thank the community for coming out and supporting this whole district," Board of Education President Jeanne Lombardino said. "We worked very hard to minimize the projects. We have maintained things very well in our district, but it just comes to a point where you can't get parts for something anymore. It's really great that the state can give us $1.85 million back. We are very excited about this."
Work is expected to start in June and should be completed before the 2022-23 school year, according to district officials.
email: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Manville voters approve $4 million in school improvements
