Vote NO

October 2

Spending $53 million on a plan which includes several questionable, unnecessary and non academic expenditures while also destroying our only swimming pool is unacceptable.
Demolition of the pool is not necessary for the school district to achieve its educational goals.
Support for the pool does not mean lack of support for other necessary upgrades. This is not a choice between STEM labs, classrooms and saving the pool. All can be accommodated.
More than $15 million (~30%) of the total spend is dedicated to new sports facilities with new gyms at Union and Pierrepont Schools and field upgrades at the High School. Spending of this magnitude on select sports facilities is incompatible with destruction of equal magnitude of the only public swimming facility in Rutherford.

The real cost of this facilities plan is much higher than the published $53 million. The lack of transparency in not publishing this information is troubling.
The asset value of the swimming pool has been completely omitted from the cost analysis. Estimates are $8 to $10 million dollars.
The cost to rent another pool and bus the swim team to that location is also inexplicably missing from the cost analysis.
Future maintenance costs for the turf at the High School athletic field have also been omitted.
Ongoing running costs for the kitchen, food preparation, food storage and delivery expenses have also been omitted. Details on staff hires or outsource contracts are also missing.

Security is not being sufficiently addressed as part of this $53 million plan.
It was proposed that some or all students should remain at the HS for lunch for their own safety and for building security. This was one of the reasons provided for the new kitchen & larger cafeteria. However, nothing in the plan addresses any security measures to protect the athletic field or any of our school's entry points, perimeters or playgrounds.

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