East Brunswick Weighs $300M In Repairs Vs. $425M New Building

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The East Brunswick Board of Education reviewed four options for addressing aging infrastructure and enrollment pressures at the high school, ranging from targeted repairs to a new $385 million to $425 million building, architect Greg Somjin of Parette Somjin Architects told the board.

Somjin said the considerations driving the discussion are "the enrollment pressures that the district is experiencing, the ninth grade not being housed at the high school, the aging infrastructure that exists at the high school, and some of the needs to identify some of the long-term solutions." He said planning on the issue dates back to 2019 and has included redistricting, elementary school additions, a study of temporary classroom units, and a 2022 exploration of what a new high school could look like.

Somjin outlined four options the district has been considering:

Maintaining the existing high school, built in 1957 and opened in 1958, with major additions in 1965, 1970 and 2001. Somjin said mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are among the aging components that will need attention, noting that "nothing lasts forever." A long-range facility plan identified more than $300 million in potential upgrades across those systems, he said.

Relocating temporary classroom units currently at Churchill from that school to the high school, at an estimated cost of $9 million to $11 million.

Constructing a stick-built addition to the high school to create a ninth-grade academy of about 83,000 square feet, housing approximately 768 students, at an estimated cost of $66 million to $74 million.

Building a new high school on adjacent open space, to be constructed while the existing building remains in use, then razing the old building and restoring athletic fields in its place. The new facility, estimated at $385 million to $425 million, would span about 542,000 square feet and accommodate four grades and roughly 2,800 students.

Somjin said construction costs have risen roughly 4 percent to 5 percent annually since 2000, with hard costs now exceeding $500 per square foot, up from $200 to $250 per square foot previously. He said renovation work on the existing building would likely qualify for state debt service aid covering 34 cents on the dollar, while new construction funding would depend on the state's "unhoused student" calculation.

Any major investment would require voter approval through a referendum, Somjin said, a process that takes at least a year and requires applications to the state Department of Education six months in advance. He said the new high school option would take the longest to complete due to required approvals, including resolving differing opinions with the county and township over the Summerhill Road intersection and renewing an expiring state Department of Environmental Protection letter of interpretation.

Board member Jaime Falco noted that the high school "was constructed in 1957, opened in 1958," with additions in 1965, 1970 and the section "affectionately known as the airport terminal" added in 2001, and asked whether the district has documentation of the building's underground infrastructure.

Board members also asked about asbestos remediation and construction-related disruption to students. Somjin said "if something is discovered during a renovation" that wasn't previously known, "that could lead to additional time being required to abate things," though the district maintains an asbestos management plan. On underground systems, he said crews could potentially "abandon what's underground and bring it above ground" for water lines, but not for sewer lines.

Asked how construction might affect students, Somjin said "any renovation project or any construction project will be some level of disruption." He said many districts limit the impact by scheduling work after school hours, explaining that on some projects "the school day ends at 3 o'clock, the contractors show up, they'll work until 11," taking individual classrooms offline temporarily rather than disrupting an entire grade's education.

Somjin said next steps depend on further direction from the board, followed by additional due diligence, submissions to the state Department of Education, and eventually a community referendum vote.

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