School upgrades discussed

Jackson Board of Education members and Jackson School District administrators are focusing on the future. Their examination of the district's needs could eventually lead to a multimillion-dollar construction referendum being placed before voters.

No date for a referendum has been selected by the board.

During a July 21 presentation he called "Investing in Our Future," Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said there has been a major focus over the past year regarding the needs of the district.

"We are not talking about an additional school, although we have about 30 trailers that are used as additional classrooms that will have to be addressed sooner or later," said Gialanella.

What administrators are talking about are infrastructure upgrades to some of Jackson's schools.

The superintendent explained that the district's annual budget covers the costs of running the schools, educating the students and completing a limited number of improvements. He said the capital improvement budget is a little less than $500,000 a year.G

ialanella said a referendum is needed in order to contain the school district's energy costs. He said administrators have to think about acquiring energy with the use of solar energy panels, consuming energy and the need for the cost-effective purchase of energy.

He said the technology infrastructure also needs updating, primarily at Jackson Memorial High School, but also across the district.

The firm of Faridy Veisz Fraytak P.C., architects and planners, under the direction of David R. Fraytak, conducted an assessment of the district's needs, and a list of priorities was created.

Gialanella said there are some limited grants available for improvements and that there is some funding available from the federal and state governments, but he told the board timing is of the essence.

In an overview of the possible referendum, the superintendent pointed to solar projects and noted that such projects were completed at Toms River North High School, the Beachwood Elementary School in Toms River and at Howell High School.

"Our [solar energy] project is at Jackson Memorial High School, which has a large roof," Gialanella said. "The trees around the school do not block most of the area. The whole project at Jackson Memorial would cost approximately $7 million (a 15-year bond) and would produce electricity for the district."

He said the district would receive 40 percent debt service aid from the state, or roughly $2.8 million, and a rebate amounting to $1.6 million from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

In addition, there would be a solar energy credit of $348,000 per year for 15 years, which could be sold, resulting in Jackson's share to be $2.7 million over the period of time.

Energy produced by the system would lower electric bills by an estimated $147,905 per year, the superintendent said.

"This system would be paid off in 5.3 years," Gialanella told the board, noting that solar panels generally last for 25 years.

"The next project is security," said the superintendent. "Let me say first, we do an excellent job securing our schools, but we want to use technology to increase the system we use and increase the safety of our buildings."

At present the first stop for a visitor to a school is inside the door at the security desk, he said.

"What we really want to do is put the first stop outside the door, lock the doors and use technology to buzz people in," the superintendent told the board. "The increased use of technology will increase [the security] in many different areas. It will be a safer environment for our students."

Other security upgrades could include cameras, card readers, video servers, video cameras, and other upgrades.

The total cost for security upgrades in all 10 schools would be about $4.3 million. Gialanella said he hopes that grants will help fund some of those improvements.

Technology upgrades at Jackson Memorial High School would be the third project to be considered.

"We need to upgrade that building technology wise to make it equal to Jackson Liberty High School," said Gialanella.

At Jackson Memorial the last sections of a new roof are being installed (from a previous referendum), but the school needs to be rewired for updated technology, he said.

"That building was wired in the early 1990s," said Gialanella. "We need to rewire ($2.1 million) Jackson Memorial and provide projectors and tablets, computer labs ($525,000) and network switches ($1 million) need to be upgraded."

The superintendent also said windows in the B and C wings at Jackson Memorial need to be replaced, along with other improvements that would amount to $4 million. Other projects include air-conditioning at Jackson Memorial (all other schools have air conditioning), and irrigation at Jackson Liberty, where four fields have irrigation and 12 fields do not.

Gialanella said he feels strongly that all of these improvements are needed.

It was estimated that the total cost for all of the projects discussed would be about $29 million. Officials estimated the cost of the work to be $50 per year for 15 years to the owner of a home assessed at the township average.

Contact Dave Benjamin at dbenjamin@gmnews.com.