Monroe Township has announced plans to purchase land to build a new middle school.
MONROE -- Monroe Township officials announced plans to earmark $2.5 million to purchase property to use as a future site for a new middle school at its March 15 budget hearings.
The township would purchase the unnamed property and turn it over to the Monroe Township School District for $1 as early as July.
"We can't reveal the exact location just yet, other than to say that it is a 30-acre site situated in the southern end of the Township near a controlled intersection with water and sewer access," said Kathy Kolupanowich, Monroe Township school board president.
According to the Monroe Township School District, eight of its facilities are overcapacity by approximately 1,000 students and the district is using "creative planning and scheduling" to deal with the shortage of space. But with student population expected to continue to grow, administrators are preparing to create needed space by bringing in 18 trailers for the 2018-2019 school year at a cost of approximately $2 million annually.
"Our operating budget provides for the daily operations of the school - from turning on the lights to the teachers' salaries; but certainly not to construct or to overhaul our present-day facilities," said Monroe Township School District business administrator Michael Gorski. "We'll have to go out for a referendum by December 2017 or January 2018 for new school construction. We are fortunate that interest rates are currently at historic lows. We've also learned that as time passes construction costs only increase, so we'd like to put this into motion as soon as possible."
Superintendent Michael Kozak is still finalizing building design plans with the architects.
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