$25M Fair Lawn School Referendum Goes to Voters Tuesday

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Votes will decide on a $25 million bond referendum Tuesday that would relocate an entire grade and significantly expand classroom space throughout the district.

The referendum is designed to address a population boom in town. Five hundred students have enrolled in the district during the past five years and another 500 are projected to be enrolled within the next five, Superintendent Ernest Palestis said.

District officials have dealt with the boom by pushing class sizes to their maximum and instituting a policy that lets students attend an elementary school other than the one they were formally assigned to. Creating a more permanent solution to deal with the boom is required, Palestis said.

"We recognize that this is not a short-term bubble, and we explored several options before focusing on the long-term solutions outlined in the referendum proposal," Palestis said.

A key part of the plan is moving fifth grade from the district's six elementary schools to the two middle schools.

Dozens of classrooms would be added throughout the district.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School would gain 14 classrooms, a new multi-purpose room, two bathrooms and more storage space. Memorial Middle School would get another nine classrooms.

The high school would also see significant changes. The media center would more than double in size from 2,000 square feet to 5,000 and the kitchen and cafeteria would be renovated. The HVAC system in the auditorium would be upgraded as well.

The referendum will ask voters to approve a 25-year borrowing plan. The tax increase for the average homeowner would be $106 annually, or about $9 a month. The average Fair Lawn home is valued at $327,000.

Approving the referendum would make the district eligible for $3.8 million in state aid to offset the amount needed to bond for.

"Administrators and the school board worked with multiple consultants to develop a plan that was educationally sound and financially responsible," Palestis said. "The bond referendum would add physical space, but also allow us to improve the education of Fair Lawn students."

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