Vote Tuesday On $17M Red Bank Regional Referendum

RED BANK, NJ —If you send your children to school districts in Little Silver, Red Bank or Shrewsbury you will be asked Tuesday, Dec. 11 to vote on a $17.3-million series of capital plan improvements to the local schools.

The Red Bank Regional School district says the planned improvements are necessary mainly because of increased enrollment. Property taxes will likely go up to pay for the changes, but it remains unclear by how much.

"Increased enrollment is now causing space shortages with many more students coming from lower grades," the district said. "Industry standards designate RBR’s capacity at 1,043. Our enrollment for 2018 was 1,217. Demographics studies expect that to increase to 1,395 in four years."

They also say Red Bank Regional school facilities are outdated.

"We need to make RBR’s facilities ready for 21st century needs. The high school's students, staff, and programs are housed in a facility that is nearly 50 years old," the district said. "No major change in the footprint has occurred since the building was opened in 1975."

Athletic improvements:

Red Bank says their sports facilities simply aren't up to par with neighboring districts, and that's why they need to build a new turf field, concession stands and bathroom facilities at the high school.

Also, the high school needs a new roof, the district says.

"The high school roof is approaching the end of its service life. Its replacement is approximately $6.1 million. A project this large cannot be paid for within the regular budget," the district said.

“While no one wants their taxes increased, taxpayers should understand the unique contribution our tuition program makes to our funding and why it is critical to the referendum decisions," said Red Bank Regional school board member Frank Neary. "With increasing enrollment from the sending districts, RBR has less space available to admit qualified tuition students. The fewer the tuition students, the less revenue is generated for the budget. With less revenue from tuition, more of the total budget costs get passed on to the taxpayer."

"The tuition revenue in 2017-18 was already $1.2M less than it was just 4 years ago and all of that cost is now picked up by the taxpayers," he continued. "Moving forward, as the tuition revenue continues to decrease, RBR will be forced to increase taxes, cut programs, or both. Adding space through the referendum will allow for in-district and tuition students to continue to attend and contribute to the RBR community, the successes as well as the costs.”

Residents can also email any questions specifically related to the referendum to rbr-referendum@rbrhs.org. Learn more about RBR at their website at www.rbrhs.org.

Polls are open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11. Vote at your usual polling station.

Photo supplied by the school district.