February - March 2003 Edition

The Referendum:  Next Steps and Comments From Residents Next Steps The proposed school referendum lost 52% to 48%.   See district-by-district results.  Ray Jacobus, the Board of Education's Business Administrator, told Fair Lawn News that the Board of Education is looking at the proposed referendum and deciding if they need to make minor changes or really revisit the entire plan.  Options the Board of Education is considering include: - Increasing class size  - Split shift  - Eliminating electives (such as advanced placement classes)  - Installing trailers (on a temporary basis)   Jacobus said the Board conducted a space assessment and prepared an education plan.  He said "If the demographers are correct (and they have been right in the past) there is still a need to increase the size of the high school.  The state, he said, is also under orders to get rid of the trailer used for a classroom at the Warren Point School.   The state had committed $11 million in grants (if Fair Lawn voters had approved the plan).  Jacobus said he hopes they continue to support that amount.  Another referendum is expected to be brought to the public this year. The state only allows referendums on four dates (January, March, September, and December) and the state requires school districts to provide notification to County and State officials about five months before the referendum date is set.    Some comments from the Fair Lawn News Forum, after the Referendum failed   I hope that the Board of Education now comes back with reasonable proposals for the high school and a new referendum to make the needed improvements at Warren Point and Radburn.   Unfortunately the High School plan was much too grandeous.    The improvements at Warren Point and Radburn are long overdue.     There are approximately 18,000 registered voters in Fair Lawn. That means about 30% voted. That's sad.  Sometimes I think people do not realize the importance of voting. Anyway, hopefully the BOE does rethink the plan and do the necessary changes so the necessary improvements are made.     The referendum was voted down, but only by a small margin: - If 105 of the people who voted 'No', had a change of heart and voted yes, it would have gone the other way. 105!     It seems apparent just from reading the posts here that most people who were against the referendum, were so because of the size of the High School. It's a shame that all the grammar schools will be losing out when they really needed the financial help.     I would hope they will come back with a more reasonable plan, perhaps scale down the HS and do something for ALL the schools in the district. Maybe more people will vote if everyone's school is involved.     I have been in Milnes lately and the school and the playground facilities are a disgrace. They need to come back with something that will please more people.       See Editorial on the Referendum's Next Steps