Randolph Township Board of Education Approves Fall Referendum

RANDOLPH, NJ- Randolph Township Schools and the Board of Education are committed to inspiring and empowering all students to reach their full potential as unique, responsible, and educated members of a global society.

The Board has approved a 41.4 million dollar bond referendum for Randolph Township residents' consideration. The vote will take place on Tuesday, September 17 from 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM at all polling locations in Randolph. A video will be made available on the district’s website and social media which will provide an overview of the referendum and how it can benefit the school and local community.

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Leading up to the referendum vote, the district’s leadership team, in collaboration with the FFT committee, identified facilities projects exceeding $100 million dollars which need to be completed in all six district school buildings. The committee and administration prioritized projects while specifically focusing on the feedback of various stakeholders.

The district estimates the total cost of the referendum will be $41,411,101. This includes the work for the projects, professional fees, contingency, and permit fees. The district, in collaboration with a team of advisors, created a package of improvements that maximizes debt service aid, so that the projects are eligible for and up to 34% of the total project costs. This debt service aid is collected from taxpayers statewide. However, it is only available to districts with voter-approved bond borrowing. Support from the state of New Jersey helps to reduce the local tax burden and returns some state revenue back to Randolph Township residents.

Randolph Township Schools is close to making final payments on the debt incurred from a previous referendum. If the referendum passes, the owner of a home assessed at the Randolph 2024 average of $490,311 would see an increase of approximately $112 per year on average for a four-year period, before taxes drop back to the current rate for debt service. The average cost to a homeowner with a 2024 assessment of $490,311 is $217.75 over the 20-year term, however, due to the expiring debt discussed earlier, the average taxpayer will only see an increase of about $112 for four years.

The proposed referendum will include enhancements to all six district schools. The project scope includes full roof replacements at Ironia Elementary and Shongum Elementary, art room renovations at all six school buildings, music room renovations at Randolph Middle School, districtwide HVAC Replacements, districtwide restroom renovations, and security upgrades at all six schools.

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At Randolph High School, art classrooms would be fully renovated with new floors, sinks, ceilings, cabinets, and HVAC. The kiln will be replaced, with upgraded safety features. In addition to general storage, student art storage would be strategically relocated to have a specific location. Optimizing storage space in classrooms would help to reduce clutter and provide designated areas for artwork created with specific mediums that require special care, such as paintings that need to dry. Extensive work would be completed in the Commons' restrooms to better accommodate students, staff, and visitors. The existing faculty bathrooms would be converted to accommodate the RISE program for students with multiple disabilities. The faculty restrooms would be relocated to the existing girls and boys restrooms areas in the Commons. By the entrance of the 9/11 and Holocaust Memorial, the restroom spaces there would be reimagined to include an estimate of 8 separate single restrooms. Most classrooms in Randolph Township Schools already have air conditioning. The referendum would provide air conditioning to classroom spaces that are currently without it and/or have inefficient window units. All Randolph Township Schools are equipped with the necessary resources to maintain a safe environment for all students and staff. Enhancements would continue to improve the district's security measures which includes additional cameras, protective glass film installation in school buildings, adding additional swipe cards, exterior door replacements, improved surveillance technology, and visual display alert systems.

At Randolph Middle School, both art classrooms would be fully renovated. This includes a brand-new kiln with updated safety features. Interest in music education has significantly increased at Randolph Middle School. As one example, both the 6th and 7th grade middle school orchestra programs have the highest enrollment since the 2011-2012 school year. This growth has led to classroom relocation to the middle school auditorium, as the current instructional spaces for music education cannot accommodate every child. The referendum would help to increase instructional space to support this growth. In any instructional space, the proper storage of equipment is essential to ensure both students and staff can access the tools they need. The music program, having outgrown these spaces, will benefit from having storage expanded to better meet the needs at the middle school. Renovation of the existing spaces would create a better learning environment for students in band, choir, and orchestra. With better acoustics, students would better understand the tone, pitch, and harmony of the music they are studying. HVAC and security upgrades would also be completed as part of the districtwide plan.

Center Grove Elementary's art classroom would be fully renovated. A brand-new kiln would be installed with updated safety features. In all elementary art classrooms, sinks would be lowered to accommodate students of different heights based on grade level with two sinks in these spaces. This would give elementary school students the ability to wash brushes, hands, etc. without the need for accommodation. All spaces would also have updated artificial LED lighting to adjust the color spectrum that is projected in every art classroom. Teachers and students can switch to different settings such as bright light, cool light, or natural light depending on the type of artwork they are working on. HVAC replacement, restroom renovations, and security upgrades would also be made as part of the district's plans.

Fernbrook Elementary's art classroom would be fully renovated. A brand-new kiln would be installed with updated safety features. HVAC replacements at Fernbrook Elementary, as well as all of the other schools, have numerous benefits. Students, staff, and community members are acclimated to air-conditioned spaces comparatively to years ago. Additionally, modern security concerns prevent propping open doors. Individuals with asthma, allergies, or other medical conditions could also see benefit from the addition or replacement of HVAC systems. Additional security upgrades and restroom renovations would also be made like every other school building.

Ironia Elementary's art classroom would be fully renovated. A brand-new kiln would be installed with updated safety features. The building needs a full roof replacement due to extensive wear and tear, as the roof has had significant patchwork to repair ongoing damage. The skylights on the roof would be removed completely as they often leak, eliminating this concern completely long-term. Ironia's roof would also have a thick layer of material to assist with temperature control. Extra insulation would improve energy efficiency which would help keep the building warmer during the winter and cooler during the summer. HVAC replacements, restroom renovations, and security upgrades would be completed in alignment with the district's plan.

Shongum Elementary's art classroom would be fully renovated. A brand-new kiln would be installed with updated safety features. The building needs a full roof replacement due to extensive wear and tear. The roof is "ponding" which is a term to describe improper roof drainage which leads to stagnant puddles of water. All roof drains would be rebuilt with new drains outside, and the roofs would be sloped to help the drainage system. Renovating and relocating existing bathroom spaces would open up space for an additional larger instructional space at Shongum. Both the faculty room and technology room next to existing restrooms have plans for relocation, which would result in both new restroom spaces and a new larger instructional space to be created. HVAC replacement and security upgrades would be completed in alignment with the district's plan.

Residents registered to vote in Randolph Township are eligible to cast their ballot to share their perspective on these initiatives. The deadline to register to vote is 21 days prior to the community vote. Residents should visit Randolph Township School's Referendum homepage for more information. Updates will be shared in the coming weeks leading up to the referendum. The district sincerely thanks the public for its consideration.

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