Referendum - Montville Township Public Schools

PROJECTS

The Montville Township Public Schools district strives to supply students with an educational environment that is comfortable for both learning and personal growth. To carry on our path of success, our district recognizes the need for instructional space and well-maintained facilities.

Special state funding is only available through bond funding. A voter-approved bond referendum would allow the district to leverage about $9.5 million in funding to address $70 million in key projects as determined by the Board of Education’s research.

Click through this gallery to learn how every school would benefit: More Space, Security Upgrades, Building Systems

Returning State Funds to Montville Township

By shifting these expansion and improvement projects out of the annual operating budget and into a bond proposal, MTPS would receive about $9.5 million in state aid – a stream of revenue that Montville Township taxpayers already pay into. That share of special state funding is only available to districts with voter-approved bond referenda.

Video - Montville Bond Referendum Overview

Watch Video: www.montville.net/referendumvideo

OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS NEED SPACE

MTPS prides itself on innovative instruction to maintain class sizes and small-group teaching. Enrollment has steadily increased over the years at our elementary schools, and even more growth is forecasted for the future.

The elementary school student population already exceeds capacity beyond 100 students during the 2023-24 school year. The rise is expected to continue: The district anticipates serving 400 students more than our elementary schools’ capacity within four years.

These numbers are pulled from baseline projections of Montville Township’s natural population growth within the existing housing supply, as well as new housing developments that are planned for the community.

With elementary schools already over capacity, the district has employed creative solutions to solve the need for space. Music lessons take place in hallways and rooms are divided to hold more than one class at a time. While these approaches are being utilized currently, the district recognizes that a long-term solution would provide the best possible learning environment for students.

Added Space and Renovations

Question 1 on the Dec. 12 ballot focuses on added space and renovations. If approved, a bond referendum in 2023 would allow additional space to be ready for student use in 2025. Without voter approval, class sizes would continue to increase and costs of building system replacements would fall 100% on local tax bills.

SMALL AND LARGE SPACES FOR THE WAYS EDUCATION HAS EVOLVED

More space is needed to keep up with today’s teaching approaches that require more small-group instruction and added flexibility for large, multi-purpose rooms. Focusing on smaller groups of students can help reluctant readers catch up to peers and can meet the
needs of students who have math skills well beyond their grade level. Some of these services are required by law and others make great sense early for future success. The bond proposal seeks funding to add walls and separate entrances for certain classrooms that are now divided by simple partitions. Those temporary steps enable two, three or four academic lessons to be taught simultaneously. Simple partitions hardly keep visual distractions down and they do less of a job of containing sounds. Due to the space shortage at our elementary schools, some students have speech lessons or other instruction while seated in a hallway as other students walk by.
Large, flexible spaces are also needed; they are proposed at Hilldale, William Mason and Woodmont elementary schools. These multipurpose rooms would provide space for interactive assemblies, hands-on workshops, lunch service and indoor recess, performance rehearsals and combined-class gatherings. These kinds of activities have been held in gymnasiums for years, but that practice has become more challenging as both enrollment and the number of school/community activities have risen.

The Board of Education is proud that MTPS is such a desirable district that people plant their roots and build their families here. In fact, Niche.com gives Montville Township A+ grades for having great "public schools" and being "good for families." We need space now to accommodate the rising number in the student population and to keep up with modern educational models.

Video: Space Needs - In About a Minute

Video: Building Needs - In About a Minute

Improved HVAC and Security

Question 2 on the Dec. 12 ballot focuses on improved HVAC systems and better security. Question 1 must pass for Question 2 to also pass. If voters reject Question 1 but approve Question 2, neither proposal would pass.

SCHOOL SECURITY CAN BE IMPROVED

Our schools were designed in a different era, and upgrades would help them meet modern standards for admitting visitors. Funds from the general operating budget are paying the costs for two-stage entrances at Robert R. Lazar Middle School (recently completed) and Cedar Hill Elementary School (completion targeted for spring 2024). In a secure vestibule, a visitor will be screened to verify identity and confirm the purpose of the visit, and then admitted to the school.

With voter approval, the same approach would be taken at William Mason Elementary, Woodmont Elementary and the High School. At these schools a new entrance to each building would extend from the existing structure as a stage-one screening point. At Valley View Elementary the security vestibule will be built within the existing “footprint” of the building. Similarly, at Hilldale Elementary, a two-stage security vestibule would be built within the building as part of the new addition of classrooms.

These projects would not be the beginning, nor the end of the district’s commitment to security. The district has applied for separate state funding to buy and install upgraded hardware for school doors at Lazar and all elementary schools.

HVAC UPGRADES FOR COMFORT AND EFFICIENCY

Alongside the addition of space at the elementary schools and the creation of security vestibules at five schools, the bond referendum proposes several upgrades and repairs across the district. These costly capital needs would capture key state aid, reducing the costs on local tax bills.

Upgrades to Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are a sizable portion of the plan. The proposal targets buildings where HVAC systems are old to the point of repair risk and energy inefficiency. In addition to those financial concerns, more modern systems are an efficient way to create a comfortable climate on days when heat, humidity and/or pollen counts are high. They are a more effective way of exchanging air for improved ventilation.

In most schools, the heating units that sit inside classrooms are upwards of 50 years old. Many are failing and replacement parts are unavailable, making it difficult or impossible to repair the existing systems. Cooling units that hang outside the windows aren’t that old, but were not built to last for decades. Additionally, the upgraded technology of new HVAC systems will also provide a finer level of air filtration. Question 2 proposes funding to replace the interior units in five of the seven schools with highly efficient heating/cooling systems, and phasing out the use of window air conditioners. Steps toward that goal have already been taken at Valley View within the operating budget. Accomplishing that within the operating budget for all the schools would take a big bite out of that budget, and, additionally, the replacement would not be eligible for the kind of state aid that comes from bond funding. For example, HVAC upgrades at Lazar are slated to cost $4.5 million, and the state has committed to paying $1.5 million of that.

WHAT DOES CROWDING LOOK LIKE?

Several Different Classes in One Room at the Same Time

Makeshift walls have been added to many classrooms to make room for two, three and sometimes four classes to meet in the same classroom at the same time.

Class Sizes Grow with Increased Enrollment

Class sizes are increasing, pushing the capacity of the district's elementary schools beyond their limit. For the 2023-2024 school year enrollment is nearly 150 students beyond capacity. That number will increase to over 400 within the next 5 years.

Class sizes are increasing, pushing the capacity of the district's elementary schools beyond their limit. For the 2022-2023 school year enrollment was more than 100 students beyond capacity. That number is projected to increase to over 400 within the next 5 years.

In our elementary schools, these are some examples of what over capacity looks like:

On two sides of a temporary divider propped on a table, a few students hear lessons to improve their English while another few try to focus on brushing up their math skills.
In a hallway, a second-grader tries to concentrate on speech therapy while students walk by on their way to/from classrooms.
A first-grade teacher struggles to find space to split 20 students among activity stations; they barely fit when those youngsters are seated in desk rows.
Students set up music stands at the end of a hallway to practice playing violins in unison, amid the sounds of echoes and chatter.
When inclement weather pushes recess indoors, that break for physical activity turns into sitting still on the floor squeezed alongside students who are eating lunch.

Classes in Hallways

Due to enrollment exceeding the current capacity of the district's five elementary schools, it is not uncommon for music and other classes to be held in the hallway.

Question 1 on the Dec. 12 ballot focuses on added space and renovations

Question 1: Building additions/renovations to meet demand for instructional space. Project costs = $53,002,289. Capital Reserve = $6,575,000. State aid = $3,671,775. Tax impact = $326 per year for a home assessed at $533,572, the mathematical average in Montville Township. If voters reject Question 1 but approve Question 2, neither proposal would pass.

Question 2 focuses on improved HVAC systems and additional security

Question 2: HVAC and security measures. Project costs = $16,980,314. State aid = $5,773,307. Tax impact = $84 per year for a home assessed at $533,572, the mathematical average in Montville Township. If voters reject Question 1 but approve Question 2, neither proposal would pass.

A voter-approved bond referendum would allow the district to leverage funding to address key projects as determined by the Board of Education’s research over the past years.

If approved, a bond referendum in 2023 would allow additional space to be ready for student use in 2025. Without voter approval, class sizes would continue to increase and costs of building system replacements would fall 100% on local tax bills.

Question 1 must pass for Question 2 to also pass. If voters reject Question 1 but approve Question 2, neither proposal would pass.

More Information

Click on the buttons below to learn more about the December 12 bond referendum.

Referendum Forum: Virtual Nov. 29. 7PM

Flyers

Questions?

If you have questions, please see the Referendum FAQs section of the website. You are also encouraged to email referendum@montville.net if you have additional questions. Thank you.

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