By Colleen Reynolds / Reporter

WOOD-RIDGE — Following months of anecdotes involving “children coming out of the woodwork” and the district elementary school “bursting at the seams,” the Wood-Ridge School District formed a special expansion committee to monitor overcrowding within its aging infrastructure. Now, a long-term solution may be an apple’s throw away.

Wood-Ridge is awaiting final paperwork, including financial details, from the state Department of Education regarding the district’s plans for a bond proposal. The extensive, two-part proposed referendum project includes additions, renovations, upgrades and solar panel installation for the borough’s three public schools.

In December, the Wood-Ridge Board of Education is expected to vote in favor of a resolution providing for a special school district election on the proposal, to be held Jan. 26, 2010.

“Back when we did the addition on Doyle (completed in 2004), people said, ‘Don’t do that; we’ll have Wesmont soon,’ ” commented Board President Robert Talamini in a phone interview, referring to the proposed middle school that is part of the Wesmont Station development’s blueprints.

“Well, the economy bottomed out,” Talamini continued. “It’s no one’s fault, but (Wesmont) doesn’t solve the space issue. I don’t want our taxes to be higher, but I don’t want our students shortchanged, either.”

He added that overcrowding will only worsen if the district were to wait for an improved economy.

According to one demographer’s report that was considered by the district, the 1,182-student K-12 district is projected to mushroom to 1,522 students by 2013, a 29-percent increase in four years.

If the status quo in facilities is maintained, extrapolated data predicts class sizes to exceed 30 students. While that is a figure that may be considered small in many classrooms throughout Asia, for example, New Jersey guidelines suggest class sizes of 21 students for grades K-5, 23 students for grades 6-8 and 25 students at the high school level. Wood-Ridge classes currently range from 23-28 students at all grade levels.

Catherine E. Doyle School, the elementary school, which currently enrolls 531 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, has seen the greatest strain from increased enrollment figures.

“We have already put art on a cart, music is conducted on a stage, and one-third of our new library/media center, opened less than five years ago, was recently partitioned to create a small classroom space,” Superintendent of Schools Elaine Giugliano stated in a press release. “We have literally run out of space.”

The expansion committee, comprising approximately 20 borough residents and municipal officials, worked with the board’s building and grounds committee, an architect and district officials before recommending that the district move forward with a referendum. The committee designed the referendum in two parts to allow residents more choice, although the second proposal would only go into effect if the first part is also approved by voters.

Wood-Ridge High School, which enrolls 407 students from Wood-Ridge and Moonachie, and Gretta R. Ostrovsky Middle School, which serves 244 students in the sixth through eighth grades, must prepare for the greater incoming numbers of students from the elementary school.

Ostrovsky School Principal Robert Recchione is optimistic that the proposal will pass because Wood-Ridge is an “education-minded community.” He is looking forward to the increase in classroom space and the opportunity for additional programming.

Recchione noted that the high school courtyard, which housed gardens a few decades ago and was sometimes used as an outdoor lunch space, could be used more productively. Both proposals involve infilling the courtyard. The first would transform it into a modern science wing to replace the dated labs still in use. The second would add general classrooms in addition to the science labs.

If the referendum passes, construction would probably begin in early 2011, with the renovations expected to be ready for classes in the fall of 2012, sustaining the district for the foreseeable future.

It would call for the hiring of three new special education teachers and three classroom aides, whose cost to hire is expected to be offset by the savings in returning the special education students to the district for their instruction.

The architect’s efforts to comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria should increase the district’s energy efficiency and savings in utility expenses. Each school would be topped with a photovoltaic panel system for tapping solar energy. The high school window replacements would include thermally broken insulated glazing, and the boiler replacement would include an energy efficient step-fired boiler.

The amount of debt service aid (a partial payment from the state) and costs to individual taxpayers are expected to be calculated in December.

The board is seeking a bond range of 15-20 years for payback. Senior citizens may be eligible for programs to offset any tax increases.

To keep the public informed, the district is adding a referendum section to its Web site, will print referendum newsletters and, in January, will host a series of open houses and school tours, at which district officials, the bond attorney and architect will be available to answer questions.