$2.5M in state funding sought for Bernards Township

BERNARDS TWP. Seeing a rare opportunity, the Board of Education voted in a special meeting Monday to seek $2.55 million in state grants that would help fund $9.06 million in heating and cooling upgrades at five district schools.

School Business Administrator Rod McLaughlin said the state recently made available regular operating district grants with an application deadline of Wednesday, Sept. 4. District officials did not know when such money would be available again.

The district already has a capital reserve nearly large enough to fund the long-planned upgrades on its own, so there were no objections to the grant requests.

I think its a great opportunity to get money thats so hard to get from the state, said board member Elaine Kusel.

The upgrades are sought for Ridge High School, William Annin Middle School and Oak Street, Cedar Hill and Liberty Corner schools. The only exception is Mount Prospect School, which was not built until 1999. The other schools all precede 1970.

Two grant requests will be filed for each school one to replace the schools unit ventilators, which act as heaters; and one to upgrade the schools heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system.

A total of 182 unit ventilators would be replaced. McLaughlin said the units are all at least 35 to 39 years beyond their useful life.

The HVAC projects would include upgrades to the electrical service and operational software.

An upgraded system should allow us to control all of the energy uses a lot better, McLaughlin said. The schools were expanded at different times so theres a different system in each building. It makes it a lot more complicated.

The upgrades should produce long-term energy savings, he added.

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$2.5M in state funding sought for Bernards Township