Little Silver school officials are inviting the public to a town meeting to be held in the Markham Place School library on Thursday, Feb. 16 to discuss and answer questions about the $750,000 bond referendum which, if passed, would construct two additional classrooms at Point Road School and provide for a full day kindergarten program as early as Sept. 2013.

The referendum will be voted on by residents in a special election from 2 to 9 p.m. on March 13.

Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Kossack, Board President Kevin Brennan, Board Administrator Amy Lerner and Board Member Christian Smith stopped by borough hall Monday to talk about the project with the town council, mentioning the upcoming forum in their discussion.

In her report to council, Kossack detailed various aspects of the project, from its origins to its tax impact, much as she did in a letter (included with this article, along with a BOE-provided fact sheet) sent home to borough parents last week.

Kossack said in her letter that the full day kindergarten initiative was community-driven:

...the desire to investigate the feasibility of Little Silver offering a full day Kindergarten program stemmed from a community request during the creation of the district’s Five-Year Strategic Plan. In the spring of 2008, 95 community and staff members came together to define a five-year vision for the district. Within that vision was a goal to explore the possibility of offering a full day Kindergarten program. A committee of people researched the benefits of full day Kindergarten. They participated in site visitations to districts that offered full day programs, and our district investigated the possibility of using existing facilities to support a full day program. After the completion of a feasibility study by P.W. Moss & Associates, it became apparent that the renovations needed to alter existing space, in order to be compliant with new Department of Education code specifications, would potentially be as costly as a new building project. Further, renovations to existing space would displace some of our current programs. The Board of Education asked P.W. Moss & Associates to consider all space options a second time before they ultimately agreed that a two-classroom building project was the more prudent decision.

Regarding the benefits of a full day program:

...it is admittedly becoming more and more challenging for us to meet the rigors of the Common Core Standards passed by the New Jersey State Board of Education in 2009. Full day programs provide time for activities that address the academic, physical, social, and emotional needs of the whole child. I encourage you to visit the link on the BOE’s page on our website to view a power point entitled High Quality Kindergarten Programs from the State of New Jersey’s Division of Early Childhood Education.

Kossack says that while construction is only anticipated to take four months, timelines for Department of Education plan approvals, the bidding process for contractors, and acquiring materials will take several months.

"Our goal would be to minimize construction time when school is in session; therefore, the project would begin next spring," said Kossack. "Given the time needed for the aforementioned approvals and contract procurement, a September 2012 opening is not a possibility."

Though Kossack said Monday the district has not yet chosen between a 10, 15, or 20 year bond duration, she said in her letter that a 15-year bond at 2.931 percent based on the town's average assessed home value of $501,856 would result in an annual tax increase of $25.10 once the bonds are sold, likely by January 2013.