Woodbridge Plans To Build New Elementary School In Hopelawn

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — As the new year kicks off, there is some big news brewing in Woodbridge: The Township and the school district would like to build a new elementary school in Hopelawn.

Woodbridge would like to build a brand-new School #10 to serve the Hopelawn/Keasbey section. Currently, Hopelawn and Keasbey do not have their own elementary school, and children who live in those neighborhoods have a 30- to 35-minute bus ride to school every morning, and back again in the afternoon.

Mayor John McCormac said it's been difficult for the children. "It's not conducive to learning," he told Patch.

The mayor cautioned that a new School #10 will not be built until quite far in the future — but it is one of his goals as mayor.

The town and school district plan to construct an entirely new school building right next to the former School #10, which closed 30 years ago. That old school building is now owned by a church; McCormac said the town looked into buying the church building and converting it back into a school — "but the cost would be too expensive."

The cost to build an entirely new school is about $50-$60 million, he said. The plan is that Woodbridge school district would borrow the money in the form of a bond, and the Township would help the district pay it back. The first step is asking the voters of Woodbridge to approve a referendum — which may be on the ballot as early as this fall, 2024 — to borrow the money to fund the new school construction.

"Parents in Hopelawn I've talked to are happy about it," McCormac told Patch on Wednesday. "They haven't had an elementary school there since 1990 and kids have a 35-minute bus ride to other schools. But we will continue to talk to other people as plans go further along. This is really in the very, very early stages."

"We are a long away," he cautioned. "We still have to get approval by the voters and the state of New Jersey."

The Woodbridge Board of Education approved the proposal this past fall.