Don't Forget To Vote This Tuesday. Your Voice Matters, Hillsborough!
On Tuesday, December 10th, Hillsborough residents will get the chance to vote on a critical school referendum to fund building maintenance and infrastructure improvements for the Hillsborough Township Public School District totaling $35.4 million.
This referendum comes after the district held a referendum on March 12th, 2019 for full-day Kindergarten and financial stability. Hillsborough was left on the short end of the stick after the school district lost state aid for the 2019-2020 school year due to a change in the state funding formula. After that referendum failed with nearly 60% of the vote against it, the district had to go back to the drawing board to determine how to proceed. The result is this referendum, which is only to maintain, fix, and upkeep the current buildings, many of which are decades old and were built in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. The referendum does not include building any new buildings such as a new High School, an idea which has been discussed as early as 2015-2016 as part of the current strategic plan.
Should the referendum pass, some of the proposed work includes repaving parking lots at a handful of the schools, replacing roofs (the 500/600 wing of the High School being one of them), fixing sidewalks and curbing, and adding security vestibules at all schools (crucial after events such as the school shooting in Parkland, FL). An item on the list of projects providing much relief is adding air conditioning in all remaining instructional spaces (classrooms) in the buildings that do not have it currently. Early dismissals were called on two days in June 2017 and on the first day of school of the 2018-19 school year as a result of high temperatures in hot classrooms that did not have air conditioning.
“We do need the repairs, that’s not a question. There is a leaky ceiling tile that gets changed outside my classroom every single time it rains.”, Auten Road Intermediate School teacher Kelly Villano mentioned at the October 28th BOE meeting.
At numerous Board of Education meetings following the failure of the March referendum, members of the public urged for more transparency. In response, the board created what has been widely considered more transparent information. This includes posting pictures on the district website of the items to be repaired in the buildings as well as having a tax calculator for residents to find out how much extra they would pay in taxes if the referendum were to pass. With every effort being made to inform the public at various events, there was some sort of event scheduled nearly every day in November for residents to attend to learn information and ask questions about the referendum. As a result, Acting Superintendent Dr. Lisa Antunes was losing her voice at the November 25, 2019 Board of Education meeting. Board president Judy Haas stated at that same meeting “she’s been out every single night and a lot of the weekends working on referendum communication.” All nine schools hosted facility tours. The board also scheduled dates at the Cafe Brio, Starbucks, and Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurants in town for members of the community to come and talk to district administration and board members about the referendum, something that was not done before the last referendum. There is also a Google Form available on the district website to submit questions.
Should the referendum pass, the district will be eligible for the state to pay the highest level of funding it can: 40% of the cost. This is equivalent to $14 million of the total $35.4 million. The state cannot pay for a portion of the project if the referendum fails.
Since the March 2019 referendum failed, in the 2019-20 school budget, 50 positions were cut, with around 37 people losing their jobs. “Pay to play” participation fees were implemented for clubs and athletics. Other fees, such as chromebook insurance and for parking at Hillsborough High School, also sharply increased. This resulted in numerous parents and students attending Board of Education meetings to express their outrage. As the community learned earlier this year from this chaos, referendums do have consequences. It is important that Hillsborough voters show up to the polls on December 10th and make their voices be heard on this important matter.