$300K to Go Toward School Improvements

The Hopatcong school district hopes unexpected 2011-2012 budget savings will help it complete about $300,000 worth of capital improvement projects.

"This was reviewed by the facilities committee," Board of Education President Cliff Lundin said of the list of projects at Monday's meeting at the . "They're all urgently needed projects that we would have liked to have included in the budget and we're now able to do so due to some savings in other areas."

Business Administrator Theresa Sierchio said the school experienced savings in heating oil during the warm winter; reduced New Jersey Public Employees' Retirement System payments; and the return of several students from charter schools.

Sierchio said that the savings was a projection, however, and there might not be enough money to finish everything

"You have to weigh these things and then see what we can do," she said.

An overview of the projects is below:

• Fixing various curbs, sidewalks, drainage and paving.
• Replacing windows in high school's A-wing, "which are very thin and let a lot of heat out," Lundin said. "We're hoping to save energy for the future."
• Finishing re-roofing .
• Installing LED lights at Hudson Maxim—a cost which Lundin said is expected to pay for itself within three years.
• Middle school drainage and waterproofing.
• Asbestos removal from .
• Relining the track at the high school, which Lundin said could extend its life between three and five years.
• Replacing a recently-failed Hudson Maxim boiler.