It was about 9 degrees outside when Verona’s public school students headed to school this morning. But it wasn’t much better inside the building at Verona High School.
Even though the boilers at VHS have been running day and night, the inside temperature in the gym was just over 57 degrees at 8 a.m.
The heating system at VHS is original to the building, which was dedicated in 1956. It fails frequently, and even when it does work, it struggles to keep up with winter. The referendum that will be put to Verona voters on March 11 would earmark $3.85 million to replace the heating system. That is the second largest expense in the proposal, after the $5.3 million planned for general repairs to all six Verona school buildings.
The total cost of the referendum to taxpayers now stands at $13.8 million, after the Board of Education secured a nearly $2.8 million grant from the state of New Jersey. The cost works out to 48 cents per day for the average Verona property.
Verona’s public schools superintendent, Steven A. Forte, will hold his third information session about the upcoming referendum to improve the schools tomorrow, Saturday, March 1, at 10 a.m. in the Laning School media center. If you cannot make that meeting, there will be just one other session, on Wednesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. in the H.B. Whitehorne Middle School auditorium.
MyVeronaNJ.com has developed comprehensive coverage of the referendum, which will be put to voters on March 11. You can read all our stories here.
These are unacceptable conditions for our children to learn in. This referendum needs to pass. $170 a year per household is a small price to pay for future education of the children of this town. If you are planning to vote against the referendum due to cost please think about the damage that will be done to home values in this town if this does not pass. I think you will recognize that $170 a year will seem inconsequential to that number.