School Architect Hopes for ‘Slam Dunk’ in State Aid Bid

Now that Gov. Christie has released more than $400 million in state aid for school districts, Cinnaminson has a really good chance of scoring some of that cash for capital improvements.

Architect Robert Garrison credited the school district, and Superintendent Salvatore Illuzzi in particular, with having the foresight to put together a capital improvement plan two years ago, leaving the district primed and ready for the latest round of grant funding.

Christie released the approximately $425 million in funding on June 3 and districts only have until Sept. 4 to get their applications in—a calculated move on the governor’s part, according to Garrison.

“You can’t just pull this together overnight,” he said Tuesday just before the school board authorized him to file grant applications for nearly $39 million worth of capital projects, roughly $12 million of which could be paid for with state aid. “You have to be ahead of the curve to take advantage of this program … The great thing about this district is that (it’s) ready to take advantage of that application deadline. You’ve done the planning over two years.”

The biggest chunk of the project—about $32 million worth, $11.5 million of which will come from the state if the district is approved—is for various improvements to all four schools, primarily the high school, including: upgraded HVAC (high school); a new roof, windows and doors (high school); handicap accessibility to the second floor of the high school; improved security at school entrances (all four schools); and more.

Garrison explained the majority of these improvements fall under “Level 1” funding—as established by the state—which essentially covers the most critical types of projects, i.e. those that address issues like health and safety. State funding, if approved, would cover approximately 40 percent of the cost of those types of projects.

“Our applications, as much as possible, will reflect Level 1 projects,” said Garrison.

Garrison further noted that in previous rounds of funding released by the state, virtually every district that applied for grant money “got what they asked for.”

“It’s my hope that our applications … come out of the Level 1 bucket and are a slam dunk,” he said.

The district is also applying for funding for a new gymnasium at the high school—a $6.7 million project, $1.2 million of which could be paid for with state aid.

“We’ll go fishing and see what we get,” Garrison said, explaining that the district can add or delete projects at anytime, depending on how much state aid it receives.

And of course, the fate of the projects hinge entirely on whether voters approve them via referendum. The earliest referendum questions would go before voters is December, he said.

Board members will tour each of the four schools and go over the capital projects plan with Garrison next month.