A few recent questions for the District, from viewers:

• Will this be putting the Haddonfield private schools out of business?
• Has the plan been discussed with Methodist, Beechwood, Friends, etc. since this will be a major impact on them?
• Is the State funding the full day programs or is it totally on the taxpayer dime?
• If it is not state funded, why isn't the district waiting until it is?
• If it is funded, other places contract with local preschool centers for state funded programs? Why not Haddonfield since there are good programs in town?
• Is the proposed bussing eligible for state aid?
• What is the yearly increase to the operating budget for the additional teachers, bussing, and the maintenance and utilities for another building?
• If the programs include tuition students for full-day, aren't children who can't afford or don't attend the full session at a disadvantage?

Costs and Financial Risks

• Taxpayers will bear the burden if Pre-K tuition fees for resident and especially non-resident students fall short of projections, which is likely.
• HSD has failed to provide useful and adequate financial disclosures to taxpayers regarding all costs associated with a complete rehabilitation of the building. Nor have they presented alternative expansion solutions and costs.
• The BOE is already paying up to $7,500, per month for taxes and other carrying costs for a property they do not own. This has been the case since January 2023. The BOE has also assumed responsibility for a legal suit and legal expenses for a suit initiated by the building seller but handed off to the BOE.

Inadequate Building

• Safety.  The building will not meet current fire codes, causing the BOE to seek fire and safety waivers, which will ultimately deprive the students of the basic protection codes.
• Safety.  Dangerously insufficient emergency egress. The majority of rooms currently have no windows, causing everyday deprivation of healthy daily daylight.
• The extant mold and water damage is unknown, and will surely cost untold millions to remediate.
• The building was constructed in 1966 for a maximum of 200 students. Even with interior renovation, it is a stretch to think it could possibly hold more students.
• Kingsway Learning Center abandoned the building in 2018 after consulting with two school architects and a commercial contractor. The age and condition of the building make it prohibitively expensive to upgrade to current building codes and ADA requirements.

Location and Zoning

• Residential intrusion. Establishing a school of 400 students at this address will be an unwanted invasion of the residential neighborhood (so zoned) surrounding Kings Highway.
• Parking availability is insufficient to support the staff of 40-50.  Also, the drop-off area will be too small to accommodate the proposed number of students.
• The daily traffic congestion hazard created by the student drop-offs and pickups cannot be solved because of the residential zoning and the fact that West Kings Highway is a County Highway, with no parking permitted.
• The Board's latest solution to the traffic congestion problem is to begin a town busing program for kindergarten and pre-K children.  It's a desperate, awkward and unworkable solution that requires additional costs to acquire buses, insurance, drivers, etc. Parents would deliver their 4 and 5 year old children to the bus at the local school in the morning and meet them when the bus returns later that day.

HSD Poor Property Management Record

• The District does not have a proven record either of successful property management or of risk management.
• The HSD underwrote the purchase without properly consulting with the public.
• Purchasing the building ‘as is’ without knowing the cost of bringing it up to code was premature and irresponsible.
• The BOE already owns Cooley Hall, a one story, large and substantial brick building previously used as classrooms by Bancroft School. Is this a viable alternative to Kingsway? If so, building size, parking issues and traffic congestion are largely ameliorated. But no alternative site comparisons have been provided by the BOE.

Related Concerns

• A misstep in fostering Haddonfield’s traditional excellence in education
• There is no reliable evidence that adding the Kingsway site to the HSD’s portfolio will improve educational outcomes.
• Is it fair for a school district to compete with private enterprise in the form of established private institutions, especially when the district has a monopoly on public funding of education?
• It is unjust to ask taxpayers, some of whom already struggle to pay particularly high local taxes for schools, to also pay for a non-mandated program (Pre-K) that will benefit so few Haddonfield households?
• The many excellent private Pre-K schools in Haddonfield will suffer an inevitable drop in enrollment, thereby jeopardizing the rich and diverse educational opportunities traditionally offered by these well-established institutions.

Mailer #1 to neighborhood surrounding Kingsway property

Letter to the Editor   A misguided and costly mistake … intention to rehab the seriously deteriorated building … impossibility of parents to drop off children requires our youngest to be bussed to Kingsway from local schools … property and privacy invasion of neighboring building.

Mailer #2 to neighborhood surrounding Kingsway property

Half page newspaper ad

Voters For Responsible School Spending

230 Kings Highway E Suite 314

Haddonfield NJ 08033

wego9391@gmail.com

Confused? Confused about the Kingsway purchase plan?

Below is a synopsis of the many objections aired by a growing number of residents with close knowledge of the situation (see Details page). The Haddonfield School District (HSD) is already amping up promotions of the plan, preparing for the coming referendum that will ask voters to pay for the scheme.

The purchase of the Kingsway Learning Center by the BOE is being marketed as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’.  It is not! It is a disaster in the making.

Important

Kingsway/Referendum

Dates

• Zoning Board Meeting: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
• Planning Board Meeting  Target: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
• HPS 90 Day Free Window Expires: May 10, 2023
• May require action at April 27, 2023 BOE meeting
• NJDOE Submission Drop Dead for Referendum: July 01, 2023
• Submit approvals for Acquisition & improvement concurrently
• County Board of Elections: January 2024
• Vote: March 2024

Please Attend

Zoning Board Meeting

Tuesday, April 18, May 16, 7:00 PM

 Borough Hall

The BOE is seeking a Variance to create a school for 400+ students on the Kingsway property, presently zoned R2-Residential.

Help defeat this effort.

Preserve residential property in Haddonfield.

Please help save

this neighborhood