Officials make final pitches for bond proposal

CHRISTOPHER TRENTO/Photos

SSP Architectural Group CEO Jeanne Perantoni talks about plans for the district if the $49.8 million referendum question passes. School and municipal officials made one of their final pitches to residents at a community forum on Nov. 19, urging them to 'Vote Schools, Vote Kids' during the Dec. 9 bond referendum meeting.Fort Lee interim Superintendent Paul Saxton speaks about the school referendum. 'This, of all the plans, is not only the most creative but is financially and fiscally responsible and the

FORT LEE - With the Dec. 9 bond referendum to expand district space drawing closer, school and municipal officials made one of their final pitches to residents at a community forum on Nov. 19, urging them to "Vote Schools, Vote Kids."

The $49.8 million plan calls for a ten-room addition to School No. 2 for Pre-K and special needs students, the relocation of the district's fifth- and sixth-graders into a new 33-classroom wing at the middle school and upgrades to the high school track and field area.

CHRISTOPHER TRENTO/Photos

most efficient,' he said.

If approved, the expansions will end an overcrowding strain that has forced art, music and other classes into libraries and hallways and students at School No. 2 into trailers and provide enough space for the 400 students expected to enroll in the school system in the next five years.

The district has absorbed the addition of 350 students over the past five years with no new construction.

Mayor Mark Sokolich was also present during the Nov. 19 community forum to speak on the school referendum.

"This, of all the plans, is not only the most creative but is financially and fiscally responsible and the most efficient," said interim Superintendent Paul Saxton, noting that the reconfigured middle school will allow students to better identify with each other and create a school culture.

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Officials make final pitches for bond proposal