Board of Ed Addresses Upcoming Bond Referendum

Dear Residents of Westfield,

As you may know, the Board of Education has been discussing, and recently approved for public vote on September 24, the issuance of bonds to fund roof replacements and the installation of a multi-purpose artificial turf field. Approximately 85 percent of our aging existing roofs would be replaced, with some work done at each of our 12 buildings. The artificial turf field would be installed at Westfield High School, which would benefit every student at WHS, as well as benefit the increased number of students and children throughout our town. All of the Board discussions on these projects are available for viewing at your convenience at www.westfieldnjk12.org.

Following Board discussions, some residents have subsequently raised questions about these projects and in a few cases, it is apparent that information circulating in the community was either misreported or misunderstood as originally communicated. The purpose of this letter is to help clarify the information and respond to these inquiries.

ROOFS: You may recall that starting about two years ago we embarked on a project to put solar on our roofs. Through many meetings with solar developers and after being considered for a broader Union County solar initiative, we learned that no solar developer would undertake a meaningful solar project because too much underlying roof repair was necessary to ensure that the roofs would last for the entire life of the solar project. The average age of the majority of our roofs is over 20 years old. The “patch as you go” approach is no longer sustainable. We would spend too much money each year just trying to keep up and to replace only a small portion of the roofs in any one year. That approach quickly becomes extremely uneconomical and inefficient.

How did we get into such a position?

1. About ten years ago the state took away our ability to save more than 2% in our reserve fund balance.

2. Three years ago the state decreased our state aid by 96%.

3. Two years ago the state placed a 2% cap on all school district budgets.

As a result, we no longer have the ability to save for large capital improvement projects. There is no scenario that will allow us to fund our current roofing needs without a bond issuance. We do have a 5-year facilities plan through which we have been able to make headway with replacement of boilers, windows, lockers and other projects such as these. We cannot fund new roofs through our operating budget without making substantial cuts to all the valuable programs and people who help bring success to our Westfield students and continue to attract new families to our town.

LIGHTED TURF FIELD: Do we really “need” a turf field at Westfield High School? It would be a struggle to suggest that the District can’t survive without one. But we are not measuring “need” by whether we can get by without one. We are measuring “need” based on, among other things, issues such as field usage, safety, current field conditions, and the projected number of students to be playing on our fields in the future. Additionally, we asked a simple question: Do we want to increase capacity to allow more of our children to spend more time outdoors undertaking physical activity through gym classes and organized sports?  As you know from our vote on the turf field, the answer is a resounding YES.  We believe that it is important to increase the current, very limited field usage capacity during periods of poor weather and during non-daylight hours to adequately address the aforementioned issues. The Board of Education believes it is important to provide as much opportunity as possible for all of our students to participate in our outdoor athletic programs (in this case, WHS gym classes and programs) as well as in organized sports (if you have the time to review the Board presentations on this topic at www.westfieldnjk12.org , the growth in programs over the years will be obvious). Currently, Westfield has only 1 turf field that is regulation size for most sports (Kehler).   A town like Chatham, which is smaller in population than Westfield, has 4 regulation size turf fields.

We have been asked to make the leagues pay for the turf field, or simply to impose a user fee on those using the fields.  While we could ask the leagues to contribute, or impose such a fee, there is no way we would collect enough to put down a turf field. When we have asked for help from the leagues in the past, they have been there. But these have been contribution requests in the thousands of dollars, not in amounts that we could rely on to build and maintain a project of this scale. The improved safety and availability of playing time on the turf field will benefit every student in Physical Education classes at Westfield High School as well as the student athletes who work hard to bring home both county and state championships, and the growing number of younger children in feeder programs throughout the town. We know there are many in town whose kids have moved on. They don’t feel the need to fund a field for today’s children and that makes some sense. As a Board we believe that everyone benefits when we build a stronger school district. This may be directly, as you watch your own kids go through the system, or, for those whose children have all moved on, it may be indirectly, as you continue to live in an attractive town that takes pride in what we have to offer.

We also have heard that a turf field could complicate traffic conditions and causes lighting concerns for residents close to the field. The Board is sensitive to these issues. We will be mindful of the scheduling of events and will work to utilize our increased parking facilities to accommodate parking flow. That is not an easy undertaking and we know that we will need to continue to partner with the Armory and Town to ensure multiple large-scale events do not occur at one time, and to safely direct traffic if individual large events do occur. We do not believe that the installation of a turf field will cause additional traffic complications during routine use of the field as compared to the field’s current usage. If there appears to be a problem, we can adjust and monitor as necessary.

The Board understands the concerns regarding lighting. We anticipate using the same system in place at Houlihan/ Sid Fey which is a system designed to minimize the spillage effect of the lights. We will work hard to place the lights in such positions as to minimize the spillage. While there is no doubt that it will look different at the high school after dark when the field is in use, we will work hard to ensure that any potential disruption caused by that will be minimal. We also have been asked to build the turf field at Westfield High School, but to put the lights on Kehler. We are creating a regulation size multi-purpose field at Westfield High School to add maximum capacity to the District for our sports programs. It makes sense to light the newer facility, which will also accommodate more sports, such as softball.  

Many ancillary issues regarding the turf field also have been raised. These include concerns that turf fields may become excessively hot on sunny days. Our architect and Athletic Supervisor are investigating the latest surface, which is less apt to cause concern. We are reviewing the information that we have received on this topic and would never proceed with any project (turf field or otherwise) if our experts were to advise that the project is detrimental to student health. It also has been brought to our attention that children use the high school field hill to sled in the winter and to play in a natural environment. We agree with the importance of such uses, but on balance do not believe that such uses would outweigh the benefits of a turf field at the High School.

BOND FORMAT: People have suggested that they will vote “no” to a bond issuance in all different scenarios – If the bond only includes roofs; if the bond only includes a turf field; if the roofs and field are linked as one vote; etc. The recommendation of the Facilities Committee is to combine the vote on both of these projects into one vote, as has been done on prior issuances that contained multiple projects, because both projects are important to the integrity and safety of our facilities – both indoor and out. The Board will decide on the exact wording of the bond referendum proposal during one of its June meetings and most likely on June 5th.

TIMING: Our bond referendum is in September. We discussed having it in November to sync up with the existing election schedule. But more important than the election schedule, we want the roof work to be done next summer, when school is not in session. The roofs won’t get done in time if we wait to start the process until after the November elections.  If the turf field is approved, we are hopeful that the work can be completed in time for the 2013-2014 school year. 

COST: To provide for both the roof replacement and turf field, the allocated annual cost of the bond to the average assessed home in Westfield will be $108. There would be no impact in the 2012-2013 school year due to the timing of the issuance. Taking the retirement of prior bond issuances into account, however, your tax bill for the 2013-2104 school year would go up $45, not $108. That annual net impact amount will vary over the next 20 years (the life of the bond) from a high of $55 to a low of a decrease of $157.  The exact schedule was shown in a prior Board presentation and can be viewed on our website. Some have pointed out that $45 a year equates to about 12 cents a day and therefore, we should move this forward. Others have pointed out that $45 a year is $45 a year, and in fact, wouldn’t it be nice if our taxes did not have to increase at all? Both points of view are equally valid and fully understood by The Board of Education.  Bond interest rates are also at historic lows. Taking advantage of the current interest rate environment also helps to minimize the cost impact of the projects.  

It also has been suggested that we should instead issue bonds for more computers, librarians, and teachers. Personnel costs fall squarely within our annual operating budget and we cannot rely on future bond issuances to maintain our personnel or programs. Computers and similar assets have much more limited lives (requiring faster repayment) than the larger capital improvement projects that are typically bonded. In addition, we view such assets as more normal course purchases that must be sustained from the ongoing operating budget rather than from a bond issuance.  

The Board of Education hopes this letter will clarify the community's understanding of the need and funding for school building roof replacements and repairs and a lighted turf field to benefit all high school physical education students and student athletes throughout Westfield. The Westfield community has a strong tradition of supporting education and our public schools. The Board of Education is now asking the community to continue that support by endorsing these projects in a referendum vote on September 24.

We look forward to continued communications with you on these projects in the future. We can be contacted at wboe@westfieldnjk12.org.

Westfield Board of Education

Ann Cary, Jane Clancy, David Finn, Mark Friedman, Roseanne Kurstedt, Ginny Leiz, Rich Mattessich, Gretchan Ohlig, Mitch Slater