Our View

Administrators don’t have
much time to sell project

Administrators in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District will have their work cut out for them as soon as the summer vacation ends.

There will not be a lot of time for Board of Education members and administrators of the K-8 district to sell a $48.8 million referendum to residents of the two towns served by the regional district.

But that is just the task that will be facing the board when school resumes the first week of September.

The board has set Sept. 30 as the date for a vote on additions to the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School and the Clark Mills School, and improvements to other district facilities.

Administrators got a bit of good news last week when New Jersey education officials in-formed them that the state will pick up $14.3 million of the construction cost. That is up from an initial estimate of a $10.8 million state contribution.

The $34.5 million balance of the project — if voters approve the plan — will be paid by residents of Manalapan and English-town, the two sending communities for the K-8 district.

School officials are still waiting for final figures that will allow them to determine the annual tax impact of the construction project on property owners in Manalapan and Eng-lishtown.

Administrators say an enrollment that is continuing to in-crease necessitates the need for this building project. Residents returning from summer vacation and getting back into the swing of local news may be surprised to hear about the proposal and will want all the details.

Getting that information out and explaining why the project is needed and what it will cost will be the task facing the board members and the professionals who run the district.