Officials, Community Members Voice Support for School Bond Referendum

The Fort Lee Board of Education hosted its second of three community forum meetings Tuesday in advance of the school bond referendum on Jan. 24. Turnout at the was slightly better than at the board’s first forum on Dec. 12, as school officials for the most part reiterated what they detailed at that meeting and directed voters to the district’s special “Bond Referendum 2012” website and people in attendance for the most part expressed their support.

Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle encouraged voters to peruse the website, which he said is regularly being updated with photos and additional information “so that the decisions can be made individually based upon what you see,” and said the fate of the plan ultimately comes down to how the community chooses to spend its money.

“If I had my preference, it would go into textbooks and resources for children that improve education,” Engravalle said, noting that he is not a Fort Lee taxpayer.

In reference to a question emailed through the website regarding “what’s next?” if the $30.2 million referendum passes, Engravalle said, “The plan is certainly not to immediately [introduce another referendum].”

“The plan is to get this through, to allocate the funds where they belong through energy savings, some roof repairs, etc. so that the funds that we’re presently allocating in our budget that don’t go to education, in essence, will go to education,” he said. “It’s a reallocation of the funds.”

Engravalle highlighted outdated science labs, which he called “absolutely inefficient;” talked about evacuations at , which he said have occurred three times in the year he’s been with the district; and emphasized boilers that have far outlived their efficiency to the point where parts are no longer available for them.

He also talked about the literal crumbling of some of the districts beautiful but old buildings, particularly the high school.

“We have one of the most beautiful high schools you’re ever going to see in public education,” Engravalle said. “When you drive up to , [it] looks like an Ivy League University.”

But, he added, “the closer you get, you start to see the damage, and you start to see the age … it’s just not the school it was 60 years ago, 50 years ago, 40 years ago … but it’s not irreparable. These repairs will help us increase efficiency in our operations.”

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who was in attendance at the community forum—along with members of the Borough Council—for the second time, once again expressed his full support for the referendum, saying that while “Fort Lee in many respects is the envy of a lot of towns in Bergen County … there’s one category that we are starting to lack, and I think that is of course in the infrastructure of our school system.”

“The position at least that I’m taking and I want to convey to you is what step can we take to ensure that our property values will be vulnerable, that our property values will diminish, that we will experience depreciation and not appreciation in our property values? And that’s to allow the school district to continue to fall into a state of disrepair,” Sokolich said.

Pointing out that he’s taken one of the school board’s many tours of the district’s schools, Sokolich said, “For anyone who’s gone on this tour, I think it’s a difficult conclusion to reach other than to be supportive of this referendum.”

“I get it; I know times are tough,” Sokolich said. “That’s why you didn’t see me [in 2010] when we were at $90 [million] or $100 million and then the second version. But this one, I’m going to tell you, I don’t know if we have a choice.”

Councilman Joseph Cervieri seconded the mayor’s support, lauding the BOE for coming up with what he called a “smart plan” to deal with infrastructure repairs, classroom and science lab upgrades and an addition at .

“It’s time to invest in the infrastructure,” Cervieri said, echoing the mayor’s comments. “Our kids deserve it. Our community deserves it, and you have our full support.”

Alex Floratos, secretary of the United Homeowners Association of Fort Lee, also expressed his support, saying that while the association opposed the previous referendum “for good reason,” believing it to be “an ill-advised plan,” this year’s version is more palatable to homeowners.

“I [personally] support it; this is kind of what we wanted,” Floratos said. “We wanted the infrastructure repair. I think it’s going to be less expensive for the homeowners … so I can basically tell you that the homeowners are not going to come out against this particular referendum.”

Jeanne K. Perantoni of SSP Architectural Group, the architect of record for the school district, emphasized the nearly $9.8 million dollars in state aid the district would receive if the referendum passes—about a third of the total cost of the plan. She said the cost of the repairs included in the BOE’s proposed plan would therefore be “the lowest cost that will ever come to Fort Lee” if it does.

“But this is your last chance to get this money,” Perantoni said. “This is money that’s been appropriated for Fort Lee. This is your third shot at that pot. After that, it disappears back to the coffers for some other school district. This is why I can stand here and tell you that the cost of these repairs will never be cheaper to the residents of Fort Lee.”

The Fort Lee Board of Education has one more community forum meeting planned before Jan. 24, when Fort Lee voters will have the ultimate say. That meeting is scheduled for Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Fort Lee Community Center. The board also has one more public walking tour planned for Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. starting at the at 255 Whiteman St., although Engravalle said special accommodations can be made for people who want to take a tour but can’t make it on that date.