The Lakewood Township Board of Education is asking voters to approve borrowing up to $34 million for needed repairs to six school buildings.

Oak Street School in Lakewood
Oak Street School in Lakewood (TheLakewoodScoop.com)
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A referendum on Sept. 30 will ask to refinance a previous loan, as well as borrow $34.7 million to fix leaky roofs and heating and cooling systems. The repairs will cover not only the township's high school and middle school, but also Clifton Avenue Grade School, Ella G. Clark School, Oak Street School, and Spruce Street School.

If the measure is passed, the 20-year bond taken out at 2.5 percent interest would cost the average taxpayer $55 annually, on a home assessed at $300,000.

The pre-existing loan Lakewood is hoping to refinance would cost the average homeowner $900 over the next three years, due to its accelerated payment schedule. If the referendum is approved rather than rejected, those same property owners would see their tax bills increase by $166.47 over that three-year period. According to district documents, that would eventually result in a savings of $733.71 to the homeowner.

The bond request comes at a tumultuous time for the Lakewood school district. A series of audits has found significant financial mismanagement in the district, and a monitor was appointed by the state.

"This bond is specifically earmarked for the projects, and it can't be commingled with any other funds from our operating budget," said Joel Schwartz, a Lakewood school board member. "The state monitor will oversee the entire project. They will go through the contracts, the bids, all the bills that come in, so this is a very, very closely watched project."

The state has agreed to pay $11.7 million, or roughly 40 percent, toward the bond should it be approved.

Schwartz said regardless of whether the question passes, the repairs will need to be done.

"It'll have to come out of our operating budget, and in that scenario, we'll be funding it 100 percent," he said.

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