Schools

Board of Ed Considers School Renovation Options

Board members discuss potential strategy as enrollment continues to rise.

Written by Andrew Magnotta

The South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education (BOE) discussed on Monday night the district’s options regarding the coming renovations to Columbia High School that range in projected cost from $5.9 million to more than $12 million with varying impact to taxpayers.

Each option presented to the board deals with the problem of the Columbia High School swimming pool, which Business Administrator Cheryl Schneider said will be useable for the next two years.

The pool and the adjacent dance and fitness area are prime real estate for new classrooms, which the school will need due to a projected dramatic increase in enrollment from around 1,800 students in 2013 to around 2,300 students by 2021.

The district can eliminate the aging pool altogether or convert the space into multipurpose classrooms and build a new pool elsewhere.

Board President Elizabeth Daugherty said the first option before the board, eliminating the current pool and repurposing the space (the $5.9 million Option 1), seems unavoidable given the impending need for more classrooms.

“I support an option that includes a pool,” said First Vice President Sandra Karriem. “It’s a very important life skill. The option that seems to make the most sense is [Option 4]” (an option with an $8 million projected cost that would rebuild a “simple pool” elsewhere on the school grounds).

“I think the swimming team needs to have access to a pool,” said newly-sworn-in Student Representative Maggie Kritzberg. “Last year, [the team] had to commute to a pool, which made a big difference in terms of them keeping up on their school work. If you’re not going to renovate the pool, look at an option that will make it more convenient for them.”

When asked, Schneider said they had not yet explored all the options that might be available to the swim team. She added that they have approached Seton Hall in past and been denied use of their pool.

Schneider said another potential source of new classroom space in the future could be the computer labs; with the increased integration of technology into general education, she pointed out that formal computer labs are becoming less of a necessity.

Board President Elizabeth Daugherty said the Board of Education will further engage the community regarding the capital plan through the summer and fall with a vote to come in November and a bid to be awarded by late winter/early spring of 2014.


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