A virtual community forum has been set for Feb. 26 to explain the Lawrence Township Public Schools’ proposed $98.9 million bond referendum to expand the Lawrence Middle School.
The online forum will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Google Meet. For a link to join the meeting, visit www.ltps.org and click on the referendum tab on the homepage. A video recording of the forum will be posted on the website after the event.
Similar to the Feb. 4 Town Hall-style meeting, attendees can learn more about the referendum and its impact on the community. Attendees can ask questions and receive answers in real time, school district officials said.
The proposed bond referendum will be put to a vote March 11. The goal is to expand the middle school to create room for sixth grade students to be relocated from the Lawrence Intermediate School.
A two-story classroom addition would be built on the north side of the school, plus theater and cafeteria improvements and an expanded gym. Safety and security measures would be included in the bond referendum.
There would be expanded parking so Lawrence High School students would not need to park on the street. A new multi-sport athletic field is planned on the high school campus.
The bond referendum is being driven in part by plans to reconfigure the grade level distributions across the district. They will be revised to create an upper elementary school and a middle school, officials said.
The proposal calls for the four elementary schools to be transformed into pre-K through second grade schools. Grades 3-5 would be housed at the Lawrence Intermediate School, which would become an upper elementary school.
Grades 6-8 would be located in the expanded Lawrence Middle School. Students in grades 9-12 would continue to attend Lawrence High School.
The reconfigured grade distribution matches the New Jersey Department of Education recommendations, said Superintendent of Schools Robyn Klim. It is organized around the criteria for the curriculum, and also takes into account children’s developmental and academic readiness.
The middle schools in the Princeton Public Schools, the Hopewell Valley Regional School District and the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District are also organized around a grades 6-8 band.
Klim said that moving the sixth-graders to the Lawrence Middle School would make room for pre-K classes for 3- and 4-year-old children. The district anticipates about 250 children to be enrolled in the pre-K classes in the 2025-26 school year.
The State of New Jersey has allocated money in the state budget to cover the costs of adding pre-K classes to the school district, said Business Administrator Thomas Eldridge. It will cover teachers’ salaries, supplies and related expenses.
If voters approve the bond referendum, the state will pick up part of the tab for debt service. It will give $9 million in state aid to the district.
In addition, the school district is contributing $4 million toward the bond referendum from its capital reserve account. It reduces the amount to be borrowed to $94.9 million.
The tax impact would be $328 per year on a house assessed at the town average of $285,000 for property tax purposes. A home’s assessed value is not the same as its market value, or the sales price of the home.
For example, a house on Fairfield Avenue was sold for $345,000 in November 2024. Its assessed value for property tax purposes is $225,000, which means the tax impact would be $259.
A house on West Long Drive was sold for $800,000 in November 2024. Its assessed value for property tax purposes is $527,900. The tax impact for that property would be $607 per year.
Property owners can determine the tax impact on their home by visiting the school district website at www.ltps.org, and clicking on the referendum tab on the home page to find the tax impact calculator.
