NORTH ARLINGTON — A school loan proved too rich for taxpayers, as voters shot down a nearly $10 million plan that administrators hoped would increase security and alleviate overcrowding.
The proposal was rejected with 906 votes against it and 585 voters who approved.
Taxes on homes assessed at the borough average of $343,000 would have seen their yearly tax bill increase by $114 if the measure had passed.
District officials were counting on the 20-year loan to fund district-wide upgrades to school buildings, including the former Queen of Peace High School, which will be repaired and serve as a new elementary and middle school.
The district purchased Queen of Peace from the Archdiocese of Newark in September, and it is being brought up to code using $3.4 million from an existing capital improvement fund. Its conversion was not contingent on this referendum.
The school district consists of a high school, a middle school and three elementary schools.
The existing elementary schools would have served kindergarten to fourth grades and the current middle school would have reverted to an elementary school, had the funding been approved.
Those changes would have helped Superintendent Stephen Yurchak establish neighborhood zones.
The need for a new school arose as enrollment increased. As of September, there were 1,840 students in the district, an increase of 255 over the last 10 years, Yurchak said.
Aside from the shifting of schools, voters rejected an initiative that would have built new kindergarten classes, expanded air conditioning to cafeterias, given one school a new gymnasium and installed security vestibules at each school.
Original source: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/north-arlington/2019/12/11/north-arlington-voters-reject-10-million-referendum-school-gond/4390005002/