Successful RYEBREAD Referendums

Mount Holly & Ocean City, NJ, 11 March 2014 – Tonight voters in Mount Holly and Ocean City overwhelmingly passed referendums to fund capital projects in these two RYEBREAD school districts.
Mount Holly’s approximately $20.5 million program will enable roof, heating and air-conditioning, and fire system replacement, security doors, and an upgraded school kitchen. About $12.5 million will be reimbursed via a NJ School Development Authority ROD Grant, and another million dollars out of the Board’s capital reserves account.

“We are grateful to the voters of Mount Holly for their support of the facilities improvement referendum,” said Dolores Szymanski, Interim Superintendent. “The passage of this referendum will ensure that the children of Mount Holly will have a safe and healthy environment in which to learn and to grow.”

After two previous unsuccessful referendums in 2010, the Mount Holly vote was 546 to 104 in favor of the school renovation projects.

Meanwhile in Ocean City, voters approved 755 to 239 an almost $6.7 million bond to make renovations to its Primary School. The District will be receiving an ROD Grant to cover almost $2.4 million of the cost and has saved more than $1.7 million in its capital reserve account, which will go toward completing the work. The rest, almost $2.5 million, will be bonded for a 10-year period.

The Ocean City project will include replacing the roof, an emergency generator, hot water heater, boilers, lighting, ceilings, exterior and classroom doors, and the fire alarm system at the Primary School. The heating and ventilation system will be upgraded, windows replaced, and air conditioning is to be installed in the entire building. Asbestos caulking in windows and exterior building-mounted lighting will be removed.

About $650,000 in work was not eligible for state aid and will be paid entirely through the district capital reserve fund. That work includes corridor doors security hardware and locks, classroom and corridor lighting, and ceiling tiles and grid.

Ocean City Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor: “I am extremely thankful to the community of Ocean City for their confidence in the school district, their approval of the facilities improvement plan for the Primary School, and their desire to see that the children of our community have a safer and healthier school. The Ocean City School Board and the Administration can pledge that our school district will do everything possible to administer well the trust that the community has placed in us.

“With the overwhelming support of the bond referendum, today we moved the Primary School project forward with the expected completion date by the opening of school 2015. Again, I want to sincerely thank the Ocean City community for their support of our mission of providing Excellence in Education.”

Regan Young England Butera: Referendums, Engineering, Architecture, Design (aka RYBREAD) is Architect-of-Record for the Mount Holly and Ocean City School Boards, as well as ten other South Jersey school districts. RYEBREAD’s Scott Charles England, AIA successfully applied for the grants on behalf of the districts, and is responsible for the design, documentation, public bidding, and construction administration of the facility upgrades.

In 2014 RYEBREAD is celebrating twenty-five years working Together with our Colleagues, Consultants, Clients, Code Officials, and Contractors to create a better South Jersey.