One of the smaller school districts in Morris County has put a big ask in front of its residents.
Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday to decide a nearly $20 million bond referendum in Mendham borough. If approved, it would fund renovations to a library, science lab, heating systems and other projects at the two school buildings in the K-8 district.
The proposal is split into two questions: The first would authorize $9.96 million worth of spending. About $3.4 million of state aid is available to offset that cost − but only if voters approve the referendum.
The second question asks voters to approve an additional $9.33 million in expenditures, including the construction of an auditorium for a district that now has none. But that would take effect only if the first question passes.
Board of Education President Catalina Wolfmeyer, speaking at a December virtual public forum to discuss the proposal, said the district provides “award-winning” education for its approximately 500 students. But to maintain that level of excellence, “our buildings require attention and our facilities need to be upgraded.”
Speaking to the Daily Record on Tuesday, Superintendent Mitzi Morillo said the district has managed to fund several significant capital-reserve projects since its last referendum in 2001, including a security vestibule at Hilltop School and a library renovation at Mountain View Middle School.
Now, with the debt from the previous referendum about to be paid off, “This is a unique opportunity to obtain state aid to complete some of the projects in a manner we wouldn’t be able to do with our capital reserve,” Morillo said.
What’s in the Mendham school referendum?
The highest-priority projects are contained in the first of two questions on the ballot, which would cover “renovations, alterations and improvements” at both schools.
At Hilltop, the first question would fund an upgrade of the library to create a media center that would “reflect today’s collaborative learning environments and improve sight lines,” according to Mendham’s referendum website. Hilltop would also replace its “outdated lights, roof, and boiler to boost energy efficiency and reduce costly repairs.”
At Mountain View, the first question would replace aging windows and roofing with energy-efficient materials, upgrade the science lab and install a new security vestibule.
The case for new auditorium
With the passage of the first question, a vote in favor of the second would authorize the addition of a 384-seat auditorium at Mountain View to create “an appropriate gathering place to support performing arts education and expand related arts courses to include public speaking, performance, production, and technical areas.”
The space would provide a “much-needed space to welcome community members to school events, such as graduations, the talent showcases, performances and more,” the district proposal states. In standard theater format, the seat rows would slope down to a handicapped-accessible stage.
The addition would also include bathrooms and designated classroom space for music classes in a school where 70% of the students participate in the performing arts, Morillo said.
Morilla added that Mountain View held its winter concert on Wednesday and had to stagger the performances, starting with one tier in the gym.
“Then there’s a choral performance in the cafetorium, then we go back to the gym,” she said. “It really doesn’t do justice to our students’ talents when they have to perform in a setting like that. The acoustics are challenging. The parents had to sit in bleachers and depending on where they sat, they couldn’t see their children performing. Definitely challenging.”
Architect Anthony Gianforcaro, a graduate of the district whose firm designed the proposed addition, recalled having to walk from Mountain View to Hilltop to rehearse the school play there because Hilltop had the only auditorium in the district.
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That auditorium was demolished to make way for an addition to Hilltop funded by the 2001 referendum, and “there hasn’t been an auditorium in the district since that day,” Gianforcaro said.
Currently, student performances at Mountain View take place on a makeshift stage in the cafeteria, Morillo said.
“It’s just thinking of the possibilities of what can be if we do have a location where they share their gifts with the community and with the parents, and also use it to learn and expand our related arts program,” the superintendent added.
How would tax bills change?
Due to the pending retirement of the remaining debt from the 2001 referendum, residents would actually see a small decline in their annual school taxes should the first question pass, the district said.
Based on the average assessed home price of $693,518, the typical borough homeowner would pay $6 less per month over the 25-year term of the new referendum. The new debt would not be assessed until the previous bond is paid off in July 2026, at which point tax bills would drop.
If both questions pass, that would increase the monthly tax bill for the average homeowner by $22 a month, or $264 a year, over the 25-year term of the bonds issued to pay for the referendum.
Where and how to vote in Mendham
The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 28, and will be held at standard polling locations in the borough from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Those who applied for and received vote-by-mail forms cannot cast their ballots at polling locations. Those forms must be postmarked by the election date or hand-delivered at the Morris County Clerk’s Office at 10 Court St. in Morristown prior to 3 p.m. on Jan. 27 – the day before the election.
