School Tour: Mt. Pleasant Middle School

With the referendum on two bond proposals to make improvements in Livingston's schools nearing on December 8, this is the third piece in a 3-part series of "school tour" articles examining the repairs voters will be asked to approve.

To show what's at stake for students and staff, Patch recently met with Steve Robinson, Business Administrator and Board Secretary, and Jessica Ganz, Manager of Communications and Community Outreach for the district, who gave Patch a tour of some of the schools to see what exactly will be upgraded if the referendum passes.

Doug Zacker, a photographer and contributor to Patch, came along to capture leaky roofs, drafty windows and outdated auditorium equipment - just some things, among others, that stand to be updated.

This "school tour" series visits Burnet Hill Elementary School, Harrison Elementary School and Mount Pleasant Middle School (see related stories at bottom).

Other schools in the district are also slated for improvements. For a complete listing of what will be replaced in each school, visit the LPS website.

Third Stop: Mount Pleasant Middle School

Although Mt. Pleasant Middle School has a striking new facade, the core of the building was built in 1956.  Like other schools in the district from that era, Mt. Pleasant has aging windows, a worn-out roof and doors and bathrooms that need updating to meet current safety codes (see photos).

But perhaps most exciting for Mt. Pleasant students, if the referendum passes, is that the auditorium will be modernized. Today students sit on the same wooden seats as students did in the 1950s. Also, the staging equipment—lights, for example—date from then, too (see photos).  

The board would like to replace the seats with newer ones, install a sound system, refurbish the stage and add new lights.

"These buildings get so much community use," said Jessica Ganz, manager of communications for the district, during a stop at the school, which serves sixth graders. "It shouldn't be looked at like it's a silo."  

On the day we toured, the school was being used by the Livingston Community Players for their current production of "Fiddler on the Roof." Many civic groups use the school for events during the year.

Ganz and Robinson stressed the importance of sharing services and noted that the improvements the referendum seeks will also benefit the community at-large.

Even taxpayers who don't have children in the schools, for example, could still see a benefit if they use the school. But as is more typical, Robinson pointed out, the real benefit of passing the referendum is that the schools get the upgrades they need to remain strong.

Good schools, he stressed, help real estate values to remain robust. Livingston prides itself on this, he said.

"We know we're not going at it at the best time," said Robinson, on the difficulty of putting a referendum—and tax increase—on the ballot now. "But because the of the economic times, we're getting money from the state. Also, when we go out to bid, we'll get good prices for construction."

Robinson is referring to the fact that Livingston will receive a one-time grant from the state of New Jersey that will provide 40 percent of the monies to cover the cost of improvements, such as updating the auditorium, if the bond proposal on the referendum is approved by voters. The state's grant comes from the federal stimulus monies for school construction projects.

As Robinson and other members of the board have said in recent weeks, the board will have to make these capital improvements to the school, regardless of the outcome of the referendum.  

But the reason for the push now, they've said, is to get help and ease the future burden for Livingston taxpayers.

If the referendum passes, construction could start this summer. Replacing roofs on various schools could be the first project.