MILLSTONE — The most important item on the Board of Education’s plate this year is getting the referendum for a new middle school passed, board President Kathy Winecoff said.

"The Planning Committee must stay on task to get out to the public about the referendum and get people to come out and vote, because we so desperately need to get this building up," Winecoff said at the Jan. 26 board meeting. "Having overcrowded classrooms is not conducive to education."

The board’s Planning Committee will meet Feb. 5 to discuss ways to publicize the referendum.

"We’re going back to see what didn’t work at the last referendum," Winecoff said after the meeting.

One of the things that didn’t work last year were the group meetings that Superintendent William Setaro held in people’s homes, she said.

"The best thing for Bill to do is to hold large, community-type meetings, preferably three or four, and do them at different times during the day and have at least one on the weekend to get the information out there," she said.

Winecoff also suggested that a mass mailing be sent to residents before the March 9 referendum.

At the Jan. 12 meeting, the board approved three separate questions to be placed on the ballot.

The first question asks voters whether they want to spend $30.8 million to build a new middle school, make renovations to the current middle school, and redesign the traffic flow at the elementary school. The first proposal does not include an auditorium in the new school.

The second question asks whether a new auditorium should be constructed for $3.1 million at the new middle school.

The third question calls for the construction of six bathrooms at the elementary school, at a cost of $530,240.

"The whole ball of wax is $34.5 million," Winecoff said. "If all three questions pass, that’s the price tag."

Students and staff are "crunched" for space, with some students housed in trailers at both the middle and elementary schools, Winecoff said late last week.

"I would rather see taxpayers’ money being spent on a building rather than put into additional trailers," she said. "You’re going to have to find space somewhere. The kids are going to continue to come."

The state will not allow the district to house students in trailers indefinitely, she said. "We can’t use the trailers as a permanent solution. It really isn’t fair to the kids and the staff. It’s hard to be educated in overcrowded classrooms."

Board member Thomas Foley said at the meeting that he preferred one question on the ballot, rather than three separate questions.

"I think the plan we originally presented was the best educational plan for the viability of the Millstone School District," Foley said. "The difference between this plan and the previous plan is $120 per house per year. Is $120 the difference between too expensive and now OK?"

Foley also apologized to the board for forgetting to invite a Millstone bus driver, Dee Ziobro, to the transportation committee meetings.

"By board policy, the only [people] that can sit on a committee are board members. We’re elected to assess the issues, evaluate them, make recommendations or take action."

The committee is discussing outsourcing its buses in order to save money, which could help the referendum pass. A preliminary estimate projected savings of $386,000. However, the majority of the board members are opposed to the idea.

In other business, Winecoff wants more Millstone representation on the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education.

Millstone currently only has one board member on the regional school board.

"Although we are sending all of this tax money, our board has no say in how that money is spent," she said. "It’s kind of hard when you have the greatest population."

If Millstone pulled out of Upper Freehold, there would be a "drastic decrease" in the programs that the regional district could provide for its high school students, Winecoff said.

"We need Allentown High School because we don’t have the money to build our own high school," she said. "And the high school needs us to support its programs."

In the past, the district did consider building a high school in Millstone, but the proposal is not feasible, Winecoff said after the meeting.

"There’s no way the taxpayers could afford it, and the state wouldn’t allow it to happen," she said. "Millstone needs Upper Freehold as much as Upper Freehold or Allentown needs Millstone. It’s a relationship that we need to work together to perfect."

— Evan Natelson & Patricia A. Miller