Toms River Schools' Referendum Work Moves Forward

TOMS RIVER, NJ — By sometime in September, there should be hydration stations in all of Toms River's schools. Playgrounds should be up and ready for use at the district's elementary schools.

Locker replacements. Flooring projects. Ductwork. The work under the $147 million Toms River Regional School District repair referendum is under way.

At its June 12 committee meetings, the Toms River Regional Board of Education was updated on the progress of projects across the district that are being funded through the referendum approved by voters in January.

A spreadsheet posted to the Toms River schools website shows the anticipated project timelines.

The first project under way from the referendum is the turf replacement at Toms River High School North. The turf fields at all three high schools are being replaced because the fields were past their warranties. The fields at Toms River East and Toms River South are expected to get under way sometime in the next couple of weeks; their start dates were delayed due to Thursday's graduation ceremonies. The contract, with FieldTurf, is for $1,288,174, about $212,000 less than anticipated in the referendum process.

The school board, which is meeting twice a month on the referendum projects, was told June 12 that the hydration stations, which will replace hallway water fountains throughout the district, are anticipated to be in place by September. The bidding on that project had not closed as of June 12, so details on what brand of hydration station will be used were not available.

Water fountains throughout the district — and throughout New Jersey — came under scrutiny in 2016 and 2017 amid concerns about lead exposure to school children across the country, in the wake of the Flint, Michigan, water scandal. Hydration stations provide filtered water.

Getting under way by the end of June will be playground construction at all the district's elementary schools. Some demolition work has started at schools where existing playground equipment is being removed due to safety concerns. Those bids were awarded in May to Marturano Recreation of Sea Girt, in the amount of $1,234,973.50.

More project bids are anticipated to be approved at the special board meeting next week, including bids to replace the decades-old flooring at Silver Bay Elementary School, Toms River East and Toms River Intermediate North. The board also may be approving bids for new lockers at Toms River North and Toms River South.

Paving projects at the John Bennett Athletic Complex, Toms River Intermediate East, Hooper Avenue Elementary, Silver Bay Elementary and Washington Street Elementary all were approved, with the bid awarded Tuesday to Lucas Brothers Paving of Marlboro for $2,676,000.

At the June 12 meeting, Maser engineer Derek Jordan said the referendum projects are being bundled, so that work such as "flooring, exterior facade repairs, window replacement, electrical, HVAC and other needs (is) completed in areas while students and teachers are relocated to other sections of the building."

Building principals have had input into those plans, he said.

Other projects that are in the process of being reviewed and bid included ductwork replacement at Toms River North and the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena, with the arena set to be closed in August for the work, and chilled water piping at Toms River East.

Under the Energy Savings Improvement Project, lighting work throughout the district has been under way.

Photos of the work on both the ESIP and referendum projects have been posted on the district's website.

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