Midland Park August 29, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 The Midland Park Board of Education last week unanimously approved asking voters for $15.27 million for major building upgrades to the district’s school buildings as well as site improvements. The public referendum will go up for a vote at a special election on Dec. 11. Of the total amount, $12,649,000 is earmarked for construction costs and $2,622,300 for professional fees, permits and contingencies. All three schools are slated for improvements, including inside and outside building renovations, upgrades to outdated electrical and mechanical systems and district wide site repairs and new installations. The projects included in the referendum, which according to trustee James Canellas, the board’s buildings and grounds chairman, are a prioritized list of “vital items”, run the gamut from upgrades required to bring the facilities up to code or ADA compliance; to building security, heating Board sets facilities bond referendum at $15 million and energy efficiency, bathroom, plumbing and electrical updates, to auditorium and athletic field upgrades to buildings that are anywhere from 55 to 88 years old. “Just as the board decided to keep the annual budget vote in the hands of the voters, we are putting this referendum out for the residents to decide if they want this for the children of Midland Park,” said board President William Sullivan. “We did not take this decision lightly, and we understand the poor economic environment this country has been in for the last five to 11 years, depending on how you want to look at it. The board of education has always put academics first, and unfortunately our facilities have suffered since we have to deal with a mandatory 2 percent cap imposed by the state and are prohibited by law to build a capital improvement fund over a multi-year period,” he added. To pay for the improvements if the referendum is approved at the polls in December, taxes on a house assessed at $392,000, the borough’s average, would increase by $404.97 a year for 20 years. The district is still paying off the remaining debt on the $12.3 million referendum approved in 2003, for which the board received $3.4 million in state aid. No outside funds are available this time around, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella. “The board will continue to look at alternate funding sources, but they are limited,” Sullivan said. At Midland Park High School, improvements would total $8,802,610. The referendum includes $1,141,500 for a new turf field, $259,750 for stadium lighting, $547,250 for replacement of the existing track and $346,000 for bleacher (continued on page 8)