The Freehold Township School District’s finance, facilities and transportation committee reported construction planning milestones and actuarial items to the full board, including upcoming architect presentations, roofing work and insurance details.

Construction and schedule: Committee members said the district will receive renderings and a timeline from Spiesl architects at the November board meeting and that administrators will meet with the architect and construction manager in the coming weeks. The district reported that the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and a Department of Treasury review could add up to 90 days to the approval process, and staff said the district is targeting a bid period in February–March pending those reviews. The committee noted ongoing work: the ECLC (early childhood/learning center) roof replacement and planned Applegate roof work; administrators received asbestos reports for all eight district buildings and placed them in a contractor binder for review.

Budget, bonds and refunds: The board heard an initial 2026–27 budget forecast that incorporates upcoming bond costs and an expected health-care increase “not less than 10%” (district staff’s estimate). Committee discussion projected that holding the general-fund levy to 2% while absorbing bond and healthcare costs could produce a net budgetary pressure of about 5.3% for 2026–27; staff emphasized these are preliminary figures and will be refined as assessed-value and final bond-refunding numbers arrive.

Insurance and risk: Robert Davita, the district’s school business administrator (as introduced in the meeting), briefed the board on insurance placement. The district said its insurer declined to renew mold coverage for one building (Laura Donovan school) following a prior large mold claim; district staff reported Donovan currently lacks mold coverage with the existing carrier. The board was told the district maintains an operating maintenance reserve account of over $2,000,000 that could be used by board resolution if emergency remediation were required. Staff said they had taken extra diligence measures at affected buildings, including training custodial staff on detection and escalating unusual findings.

Donations and technology: The board also acknowledged a large gift from the Freehold Township Education Foundation: 86-inch interactive boards purchased for instructional spaces (the foundation funded purchases for multiple buildings and district staff said delivery and deployment are expected in the coming weeks). The initiative—described in board remarks as “Active Boards in Classrooms”—will include staff training once installations are complete.

What the board will see next: The construction manager and architects will present fuller renderings and a timeline for referendum-funded projects in November; staff said they will return to the board with refined 2026–27 budget projections, final bond-refunding outcomes, and any necessary procurement requests tied to the construction schedule.