Photo by Alexis Tarrazi Wood-Ridge residents came out to vote Tuesday, Jan. 26 and made their voice loud and clear when they turned down an expansive $25.3 million referendum project that would have included additions, renovations and upgrades at the district’s three schools — including the high school shown above.

By Alexis Tarrazi / Senior Reporter

WOOD-RIDGE (Feb. 4, 2010) — Voters headed to the polls Tuesday, Jan. 26 and turned down both portions of the Wood-Ridge School District’s referendum — an expansive $25.3 million project that would have included additions, renovations and upgrades to the district’s three schools.

“It was made crystal clear last week that the 728 ‘no’ voters that took the time to come out and vote against the school referendum, that their choice is, at this time, to be opposed to addressing the concerns and needs of the children in school today as well as those in the forseeable future,” stated Wood-Ridge Board Vice President Robert Valenti in a letter to the editor. “I am extremely disappointed with the outcome, but obviously my vision must be clouded by my intimacy with the state of affairs in the Wood-Ridge School District, having served on the board for the past 10 plus years.”

The tally for question one was 726 no to 488 yes votes, and 719 no to 456 yes votes for the second question. In comparison to other board elections, there was a higher voter turnout — approximately 25 percent of the borough’s registered voters, according to the Wood-Ridge School District’s Web site.

“I am pleased that so many people turned out to vote, but I am saddened that the referendum didn’t pass,” stated Wood-Ridge Superintendent of Schools Elaine Giugliano in an e-mail. “The children are here, now, and the district will continue to grow in student population, the demographics have shown that.”

The purpose of the referendum was to create more space for the high school, Gretta R. Ostrovsky Middle School and Catherine E. Doyle Elementary School, which are all dealing with overcrowding issues. Currently, Doyle has 535 students. The middle school has 246 pupils, and the high school has 382 students.

“The sad part is we didn’t get the space,” Wood-Ridge Board of Education President Robert Talamini said. “Everything you read and hear is that test scores are associated with class size. If we have a big class size, it’s harder for teachers to get to all of the students and their needs and that could be a problem.”

Talamini said he believes the current financial state of the nation affected the outcome of the vote. “I think it has to do with economy,” he said.

Additionally, with the Garden State’s financial difficulty, Talamini is worried that school aid may be cut. Talamini said this might force Wood-Ridge schools to bring their pre-k classes back to the district.

Currently, 15 pre-k students, which need help to bring them up to speed to prepare them for kindergarten, are sent to Bergen County Jointure or other area schools depending on their status level.

“If we have to bring back the students because of cuts in aid, then we will have to make class sizes bigger,” Talamini said. “We already cut one-third out of the library to make room.”

As for the future of the referendum, the board will discuss their options at the next work session. “We are meeting with the principals to determine the impact of additional growth for the 2010-2011 school year, and will make plans accordingly,” Giugliano stated.

Usually, if the vote is close board members can restructure the proposals and lower the price tags to have a revote, according to Talamini. However, with a crushing blow in the special election, Talamini said he had his doubts.

“My personal feeling is that with such a decisive defeat,” he said, “to me, it is a dead issue.”

What could have been

At Wood-Ridge High School and the adjacent Gretta R. Ostrovsky Middle School, the first proposal included the construction of four science laboratories, installation of corridor heating and ventilation and air-conditioning systems, a partial roof replacement, boiler replacement, upgrades to the cafeteria communication and electrical systems and solar panel installation.

At Catherine E. Doyle School, first-proposal construction and additions involved three pre-kindergarten classrooms, two pre-kindergarten special education classrooms, four kindergarten classrooms, a small group instruction room, faculty room, mechanical room, kitchen preparatory area, two toilet rooms, solar panel installation and renovation of four existing kindergarten classrooms into general academic classrooms.

The second proposal included the addition of three general academic classrooms and the renovation of two existing science classrooms into general academic classrooms; upgrades to the communication system and gymnasium exhaust fan at the high school and middle school; window replacement at the high school, using thermally broken insulated glazing; and replacement of the middle school’s Univent system.

At the elementary school, the second proposal called for the construction of three general academic classrooms and interior modifications to accommodate new construction, including mechanical and electrical upgrades.

— Contact Alexis at 201-438-8700 or by e-mailing Alexis@LeaderNewspapers.net

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