They Came to See for Themselves and the Response—It must get done.

I had the opportunity last week to tag along on the tour given by BOE President Art Levine and other BOE members to Mayor Mark Sokolich and Councilman Jan Goldberg. The purpose of the tour was for the Mayor and Council to see for themselves the conditions of the schools and the urgent need for the repairs and upgrades contained in the upcoming referendum, scheduled to be voted on in January 2012.  Please note, this Referendum consists substantially of infrastructure repair and upgrades and contains minimal expansion, consisting of approximately 8 new classrooms at the Middle School, which is severely overcrowded. 

Just an FYI-- The Middle School was built for 295 students and currently enrolls 554, with more on the way.

During the tour, the Mayor and Council witnessed boilers at School 1, Middle School and High School that are in significant need of repair. Some of the boilers in the district date back to the late 1950s and early 1960s. They are inefficient, costing thousands in constant repair and maintenance, and most importantly, pose a serious threat to school safety, as there have been boiler fires, floods and carbon monoxide exposure in the last year alone. Once these boilers totally fail, the schools must be closed and replaced on an emergency basis incurring substantial costs over and above the price of materials.

At the Middle School and the High School it was observed that there is severe water leakage, which has damaged over a thousand dollars in books in the Middle School Library. The Referendum also provides for upgrading science labs--some from 1958--that are inoperable and are not functional for lab experiments. In an age where a premium is placed on math and science, to not have even minimally functioning science labs is a disgrace. Also at the Middle School, there is no back-up power system for the sewage pumps, and when the school loses power, it runs the risk of having raw sewage back up into the school, which has happened in the past. The Middle School shower room in the locker room serves as a storage area because there is no other usable space. The South building of the high school was built in 1928 and the North wing was built in 1964. Both areas, especially the historic clock tower, are in need of significant masonry and roof repair to battle water leakage that has seeped through walls and floors.

I cannot cover in a simple blog entry how much substantial repair our school district needs. Fortunately, the Mayor was clear that in his opinion, the repairs are needed and must get done. Councilman Goldberg said after the tour,  “The schools are in disrepair . . . they need to be fixed.”

This Referendum has a total cost of approximately $30.1 Million with a cost to Fort Lee taxpayers of $20 Million when you subtract the $10 Million grant by the state of New Jersey. The town’s portion will be bonded at historically low interest rates and will cost a homeowner with a house valued at $500,000 a tax increase of $123. If your house value is lower than $500,000, your tax increase will be lower as well.

In my opinion, if the voters of Fort Lee do not support this referendum, Fort Lee should really think about getting out of the education business.