AHS expansion to cost Millstone 1.7¢ tax hike
$19,570,000 plan presented to Millstone Board of Education
By ruth calia stives
Staff Writer

The Millstone Board of Education got an up-close look at expansion plans for Allentown High School Monday.

From the Upper Freehold Regional School District, Superintendent Dr. Robert Connelly and Board of Education member John Dawkins presented to the board and an audience of about 30 people plans for renovation and new construction at the high school and the adjacent annex building.

With the aid of drawings rendered by the architectural firm of Faridy, Veisz and Fraytak, Connelly and Dawkins described the process of putting together an application for submission to the state, which would bring a state grant in the amount of approximately $5,915,000. The project is estimated at $19,570,000, which leaves more than $13.5 million to be collected from the taxpayers of Upper Freehold and Allentown.

Millstone’s obligation, as a sender of about 50 percent of the high school population, is for 50 percent of the interest on the loan. In terms of individual property owner taxation, it comes out to about 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation or $17 for a property assessed at $100,000.

Stressing the fact that the state grant money comes from a source that won’t necessarily be replenished when it is depleted, both Connelly and Dawkins described the sense of urgency in getting an application together to address the needs of the school system, as they are now being projected for the next five years.

The referendum is scheduled for Dec. 11. State approval is expected this week, Connelly said later.

Many believe Millstone is at a crossroads, deciding what its future should be with regard to the send-receive relationship it has with Upper Freehold. Regardless of the choices, anything other than the status quo would take a few years to be implemented, and the serious overcrowding conditions, as well as facility repair, need to be addressed now, while the grant money is available.

The members of the Millstone Board of Educa-tion expressed disappointment and anger over being kept in the dark until now about a plan that will have an impact on their town’s tax rate.

Said board member Tom Foley: "I would have thought, in a partnership scenario, there would have been some communication much earlier, when you decided to rush toward a December referendum date. The loan is front loaded with interest. I don’t see partnership." He further commented, "Plumsted withdrew (from the send-receive relationship, effective in 2002) and we were impacted, with no say."

Board member Kathy Winecoff said, "This board could have been made aware of what was coming. (These tax figures) make a dramatic impact. This influences how much we can ask our taxpayers for, for whatever facilities we decide to build. This is taxation without representation."

Dr. Connelly apologized for the lack of communication, explaining that there was no intent to offend Millstone. He and Dawkins invited Millstone residents to attend the information sessions scheduled for Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Allentown High School auditorium, and Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., in the elementary/middle school auditorium. There will be extensive question and answer sessions at each meeting.

The referendum plans call for the repair of roofs, new parking facilities for teachers and for students, a bus-stacking area that would accommodate 24 buses at one time at the close of the school day, relocation of the soccer fields to a better site which has become available and a new track and bleachers. With increased paving of certain areas for parking a larger detention basin will be built.

The proposal calls for the fifth and sixth grades to be housed in the annex building, where reconfiguring and renovations will give them nine classrooms, including two science labs.

It was felt those grades would be easier to manage in the annex building because their curriculum is not as complicated as grades seven and eight. Their needs would be met regarding state core curriculum standards, and this strategy would free up nine more classrooms in the main elementary school building to alleviate crowding.

Allentown High School will see the most change. The auditorium will have new seating, and the air conditioning system will be improved. The library will be reconstructed into a self-contained, air-conditioned, media center. Through reconfiguration, some of the current offices will be made into classrooms, with seven replacement classrooms and six newly constructed classrooms as part of the plan.

The addition of a new corridor will help with the flow of traffic, and the seniors will have their own entrance into the school. There will be a state of the art, self contained, gymnasium as well as a weight room, and two state of the art science labs are proposed as well.

Because of overcrowding in the cafeteria, plans also call for a second cafeteria, which would become the "Senior Cafeteria," adjacent to the existing cafeteria and also next to the kitchen.