Sparta's schools: review the facts and decide for yourself

To the editor: We were looking for a higher quality of life with an affordable alternative to Morris County when we recently chose Sparta for our home. Our realtor told us that Sparta’s school system had for years been top ranked and while I was encouraged by that, I was concerned when I drove by the outdated high school. After we moved in, I started to hear stories about the overcrowding in the schools. My heart sank thinking that we may have made a big mistake. I went to school board meetings and sought out informed residents in the community that could give me a Sparta history lesson. After months and months of sorting through the details and facts I have concluded: 1) History doesn’t matter. How this community got in this situation is at this point irrelevant. Finger pointing and speculation doesn’t solve the problem of today’s school crisis. It certainly isn’t the fault of our children and they shouldn’t pay the price. Bottom line - Sparta is a wonderful place to raise a family - so families came. Now we have a school system that cannot handle the number of children moving through the grades. 2) Yes, our taxes are high. I have not been able to get a clear understanding as to why. Fight the issue of high taxes with the township - not the school. 3) Real Estate 101. There are two important factors that impact real estate values. Location. Location. Location,. And supply and demand. Many studies have been published that confirm that strong public schools equal strong property values. Homes in towns with better school systems will be of greater value, and more importantly, buyers are willing to pay more for that home. I asked resident Jim Gillespie, CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation, his insight on the value of school information to a real estate buyer. “One of the top searches performed by buyers on coldwellbanker.com is researching information on schools in the communities they are looking to live,” he said. Our school crisis has received much press and our ranks have gone down considerably since 1995 when we ranked 24th in the state. The latest ranks in September’s New Jersey Magazine has Sparta ranked 73rd based on school environment, student performance, and percent of students going on to college. Realtors are ethically obligated to disclose school information to buyers. More corporations will remove Sparta from their relocation recommendations - Becton Dickinson has already de-listed Sparta. There are currently 302 homes for sale in Sparta with an average day on market of approximately 70 days. If this referendum does not pass that number will go up and home values will continue to go down. A few hundred more in taxes for something as important as education is a small price to pay compared to the thousands we could lose in home values. 4) “Our kids have done fine in this school system.” Yes, they have. And that is a testament to the quality teachers and administrators. But with the new school, the curriculum will be upgraded significantly to better prepare our children for the 21st century global workplace. This fight is not about our educators, it is about the facilities in which we provide them to succeed. 5) “Do we really need this?”   You decide. The core facilities were built in 1959 and were sized for approximately 800 students; we currently have close to 1,200 students and more are moving up (and in) each year. This year’s 8th grade class is the largest class to ever go through the school system. If a restaurant is 1 person over capacity the Board of Health can shut them down. Why do we not place the same importance on our children? Over time the increase in state and federally mandated programs has taken over classroom space, the need for computer labs did not exist when the high school was built/renovated, and the number of required classes for all students has grown substantially to meet the demands of college entrance standards. We have expanded twice and renovated once. It is simply not cost-effective to continue applying band-aids to this 47 year-old building. Land to build a new school is not available and a new school construction cost is more money than renovating. This reconstruction solution gives us a virtually brand new school at a lower cost. Many members of our community were involved in developing/recommending this solution. A team of Sparta residents who are builders, architects and engineers reviewed and confirmed the projected costs. Teachers, administrators and other experts evaluated educational needs and researched what modern schools are implementing for curriculum, functionality and flexibility. Please tour the school and see for yourself and visit www.sparta.org for answers to all of your questions. Recently, I ran into a new Sparta resident who asked me all the questions I was asking a year ago. When I explained the situation and the risks if it does not pass, he said, “Well what is Plan B?” And to that I replied, “There isn’t one.” Wendy Purvey Sparta