District looking to fill in blanks

Sparta still waits for state’s approval of school site, By Joseph Harkins SPARTA -- Sparta school officials still need to fill in the blanks to comply with a state application that may or may not grant them permission to build a new high school on property located in Station Park, sources familiar with the situation said. The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking additional information from engineers and architects hired by the school district to gain exemption from the Highlands legislation that governs part of the property behind the existing high school off Route 517. If the DEP submission is not completed, the school district will forfeit its application with the state, the sources said. “There hasn’t been anything definitive yet,” said school board president David Slavin. “They (DOE) play by their own timeline. We’re still waiting to hear one way or another.” Slavin said the school district’s engineers and volunteers charged with providing a “second opinion” are working to put forth a public presentation in the near future. Schools superintendent Thomas Morton had anticipated “something in writing” from DEP by Dec. 1, after meeting with representatives from the state Division of Watershed Management in October to discuss the school district’s application. Meanwhile, local lawmakers, including the mayor and members of the town council and planning board, met with school officials last week to discuss the land issue and delays in Trenton. The township council continues to take a wait-and-see approach before agreeing to turn over any land that the board of education needs to construct the new high school in Station Park. “I think we’re putting the cart before the horse,” said mayor Alish Hambel. “Everything is premature. We’re keeping the lines of communication open. The board of education has to put its plan together and when it’s together, we’ll see where we are at.” The board of education will meet 7:30 p.m., Monday, at the Mohawk Avenue School to again contemplate its options in the wake of the latest delay. Taxpayers may be asked to carry the burden of a proposed 300,000 square-foot building, which they have seen escalate from an initial $53 million estimate to $109.1 million in about a year. The controversial project has been a source of debate that carried into November’s election for the open seat on the township council. Sparta residents sent a word of caution to the school board by electing Jerry Murphy, who had voiced his opposition to constructing a new high school. Instead, the council’s newest member has said a plan to add onto the existing facility should be explored. “The high school definitely needs improvements,” said Hambel. “You’d have to have your eyes closed to not realize that. But I don’t think the school board realized how much it would cost. Our taxes our already so high.” The major sticking point for the state before granting the school board permission to build appears to be connecting the proposed Station Park location to the high school’s existing sewer line. School officials are hoping to build the new school on land that comprises township soccer fields No. 1 and No. 2 in Station Park, and the high school’s softball fields in an effort to address overcrowded classrooms and a growing student population in the district. “We have an obligation as citizens to educate our children and give them the tools to succeed in the 21st century,” said Hambel. “But, I don’t feel it will be in the form of a new high school.” Morton said 1,180 students were projected to attend the high school this academic year, the highest enrollment dating back to 1974. However, residents opposed to building a new school, including councilman Murphy, believe the recent enrollment statistics are equivalent to levels recorded during the 1970s. According to statistics released by the schools district, the existing high school averaged 1,040 students in grades 9-12 each year from 1974-1981, topping out at 1,072 in 1980. Morton said the figures do not take into account split sessions, but the schools superintendent said he wasn’t aware of any official records to support when or if an abbreviated school schedule was ever implemented. After classes commenced in September, school officials reported an additional 52 students had enrolled from the 1,180 that had been projected for the current year. Morton said the enrollment at the high school this year was already projected to be up 100 students from last year. He said those projected numbers represented 55-65 more students than professional demographers hired by the school board had predicted last year. Morton said if the current enrollment trends continue, the high school could be above capacity by at least 300 students in 2008-2009. However, enrollments for K-4, grades 5, and 6-8 are actually down from the projected numbers for this year, said Kathleen Monks, assistant superintendent for curriculum and development. During the summer, Morton had put forth a plan that would have created split sessions for grades six through nine to open up more classroom space district-wide, but the school board’s curriculum committee rejected the proposal. School officials were hoping to pass a referendum this month that would have allowed them to construct the new high school at upwards of $93 million, but the vote was abandoned. Morton said that if the referendum would have succeeded, some plan to address the growing student population needs to be in place by the 2007-2008 school year.