Voters OK $22.5M Bond For Shrewsbury Borough School Upgrades, Addition

SHREWSBURY, NJ — Residents voted strongly in favor of a $22.5 million bond referendum to fund safety and security upgrades, maintenance projects and an addition to Shrewsbury Borough School, based on unofficial results of the school referendum Thursday night.

As of 9:05 p.m. Thursday, the vote was 817 in favor of the referendum to 445 opposed, according to Monmouth County Elections Office results. That translates to a vote of 64.74 percent in favor of the referendum to 35.26 percent opposed, county results say.

The Monmouth County Elections Office does advise that the results are unofficial because of mail-in voting that continues the ballot count after Election Day.

The Shrewsbury Board of Education said voter approval means the state will pay approximately 21 percent of the project costs, bringing back to Shrewsbury money that residents have already paid to the state through taxes, according to the district.

These funds will be used to pay for:

• Safety and security: Upgrades to windows with ballistic proof glass, new instant-locking classroom doors, securer main office entrances, and new ceilings.
• HVAC and air quality: Upgrades to heating, air conditioning, controls, boilers and electrical systems to provide air-conditioning and temperature control all year round. Most classrooms don’t currently have air-conditioning, and the district has paid over $60,000 in the last five years to repair and service the old boilers.
• A 21,300-square-foot addition.

The addition will include:

• Pre-Kindergarten classrooms: Three new classrooms to expand the early education program, allowing young people on the waiting list to enroll. This would generate over $100,000 in surplus for the school, since pre-K students pay tuition.
• Dedicated lunchroom: A new lunchroom to take the strain off the currently overcrowded “gymnatorium,” especially on rainy days when the space is used for lunch and recess at the same time.
• Multipurpose room: A multipurpose room with a partition to meet the fluid needs of the school.

For a home assessed at Shrewsbury’s average of $580,785, the net tax impact is estimated to be $44 per month. This is the "net tax impact" because the district will finish paying off debt in 2023 from the last bond referendum and will simultaneously take on the new debt, the district has said.