NJ district wants to build $80M school. Voters to decide if they’ll pick up the tab.

The Roselle school district has run out of room.

The Union County school system spends more than $500,000 a year on rent to educate more than 200 of its youngest students, sharing a building with another school.

And the district recently rented another space to educate more preschoolers — costing an additional $100,000 a year at minimum, according to Superintendent Nathan L. Fisher. But it’s still unable to fit everyone who applies to its lottery system.

That dwindling space and a surging enrollment are why district officials want to build a nearly $80 million pre-kindergarten through second grade school on Chandler Avenue.

But residents must first approve the expense.

Roselle voters will decide whether or not to fund the project — and additional upgrades projected to cost $7.4 million — during a special election Sept. 15.

If approved, the bond referendum will include $9.2 million in state aid to offset the taxpayers’ share of project costs, according to Fisher.

“We have been discussing the need for a new school for the district’s youngest learners for decades,” he said in a statement. “This bond referendum gives us the opportunity to meet that desperate need and fund additional improvements that will benefit all students and our community.”

A new school was first proposed in 1967, officials said.

The Roselle Board of Education moved the two-question bond referendum proposal forward on June 29 at a special meeting.

“We have done everything we can within our existing resources,” school board president Courtney Washington said. “We believe a bond referendum is a strategic solution to end Band-Aid fixes, meet the needs of our community and benefit from millions of dollars in state aid.”

The first question — which asks voters to approve the creation of a new pre-kindergarten through second grade school on property owned by the district — will cost $79.7 million and include $5 million in state aid.

The project is expected to hike taxes by $60 per month, based on a property assessed at Roselle’s average of $122,763, school officials said.

The bond borrowing term is 30 years, officials said. If approved, the school would be fully accessible and include a gym and auditorium for community use outside of school hours.

The second referendum question — which can pass only if the first is approved — asks voters to sign off on several upgrades, including building new security vestibules in each school and converting the central office into a transition center to prepare young adults with special needs for independent living and employment. It also seeks to restore and upgrade the high school auditorium and create makerspaces — collaborative work spaces for learning — in five existing schools.

The project will cost $7.4 million and include $4.2 million in state aid.

It’s expected to increase taxes $4 a month, based on Roselle’s average property tax assessment. The bond borrowing term is 20 years.

District officials say they have worked with the state to reduce the price tag. Lawmakers recently allocated $1.4 million from the state budget for costs associated with the referendum. (They’re not factored into the estimated tax impact, but will be applied if the vote is successful.)

“I just think it’s a timely need,” Fisher told NJ.com.

Enrollment in the district has increased nearly 11% from 2020 to 2024, according to the most recent state education data.

Roselle rents space for 200 students who attend the Kindergarten Success Academy, a public school in the district, at St. Joseph the Carpenter School, which is managed by the Archdiocese of Newark.

There, classrooms are cramped, students have limited access to the gym and they have to climb up three flights of stairs to use the bathroom, school officials said.

“It’s not a traditional setup,” Fisher said.

The district will hold public information events to help residents learn more about the upcoming referendum.

The first session will be July 23 from 6-7 p.m. in the Abraham Clark High School Auditorium at 122 E. Sixth Ave. Residents are asked to submit questions in advance.

A second virtual session will be held Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. The Zoom link to join is available here, and a recording will be made available after the event, officials said.

More information on the bond referendum can be found on the district’s website.

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