The Hopewell Regional School District will hold a hybrid town hall forum ahead of the $87 million referendum vote in two weeks.
Potential voters can participate virtually through Zoom or in person inside the Hopewell Valley Performing Arts Center at Hopewell Valley Central High School (HVCHS) in Pennington at 7 p.m. Sept. 9.
The official vote on the referendum for voters is Sept. 17.
Participants can submit questions prior to the forum to vote@hvrsd.org, those attending in person can ask questions from a podium, and people virtually can submit their questions through Zoom’s question and answer feature.
This will be the second town hall forum held by the school district and school board on the bond referendum for proposed improvements to HVCHS; Timberlane Middle School (TMS); elementary schools – Bear Tavern, Hopewell, and Stony Brook; and Toll Gate Grammar School.
Voters who had not opted to receive a vote by mail ballot and wish to do so must apply to Mercer County by Sept. 10 for a vote by mail ballot to be mailed to them. To be handed a mail-in ballot in person, they must hand in the application by 3 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Superintendent Rosetta Treece, Robert Colavita, assistant superintendent for business, and the school district’s architect for the proposed referendum projects are expected to be available for questions at the Sept. 9 hybrid town hall.
Hopewell Valley Central High School (HVCHS)
The plans for HVCHS are roof replacements in areas to reduce leaks and repairs, accessible restrooms, restoring the pavement of the Solar Canopy parking lot, the addition of a football stadium concession stand, and replacing the obsolete HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system in the 400 Wing to improve air quality and energy efficiency.
Timberlane Middle School (TMS)
For TMS, the projects include roofing replacements, replacing select deteriorated exterior doors, adding air conditioning in the auxiliary gym, replacing various HVAC systems, a floor replacement for the auxiliary gym and construction of a synthetic turf field.
Bear Tavern Elementary School
Proposed referendum projects for Bear Tavern consist of roofing replacements, renovating the sewer pumping station, replacing deteriorated doors, replacing various HVAC systems in the main office, cafeteria, media center and music rooms, replacing classroom doors, and modernizing the cafeteria and hallways.
A significant part of the projects proposed is a 10-classroom, one-story building addition that would be constructed to move students out of trailers and address a projected increase in enrollment.
The addition will include eight general classrooms, a room for occupational and physical therapy services, and a Child Study Team/Support room.
Hopewell Elementary School (HES)
The HES referendum project includes roofing replacements, replacing of exterior doors, replacement of classroom doors in the primary building, and enlarging two kindergarten toilet rooms to provide ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) access.
Stony Brook Elementary School
Referendum projects at Stony Brook include roofing replacements, replacement of exterior doors, drainage improvements, installing a new chiller to supplement the existing geothermal system and replacing obsolete HVAC systems.
Toll Gate Grammar School
Toll Gate’s projects include roofing replacements, exterior door replacements, third flood upgrades to the HVAC and DOAS (Dedicated Outdoor Air System), replacing electrical equipment, and building a new six-classroom building addition.
The proposed addition would contain six classrooms with internal restrooms and eliminate the use of trailers for instruction, offices, or storage.
