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Berkeley Heights board hears survey showing strong support for teacher quality, safety and STEM; March 2026 referendum targeted
Summary
A 536-response pre-referendum survey presented to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education found the highest community support for teacher quality, school safety and STEM/science lab upgrades. The board directed staff to produce costed project lists and pursue a March 2026 referendum timed with debt service rolloff to minimize tax impact.
The Berkeley Heights Board of Education on Tuesday reviewed results of a community pre-referendum survey that the administration said will guide which projects to include in a potential March 2026 ballot question.
Superintendent Mrs. Bradford told the board the district received 536 responses and used a weighted ranking system to prioritize educational and capital needs. "The quality of the teaching staff was the number one rank," she said, and added that school safety and security, alignment to job-market skills, and investments in STEM — particularly science lab renovations and robotics — also ranked highly.
Survey-specific approval rates were high for many capital items the administration asked about: 91% favored wholesale roofing system replacement; 88.6% supported ceiling and flooring abatement including asbestos work and lighting upgrades; 82% backed toilet-room renovations; and 77% supported PA, communications and security camera upgrades, according to the presentation.
Board members pressed for more detail on respondent types and data quality. "Do we know the breakup of how many students, staff and residents responded?" asked a trustee. The administration said the raw data includes age brackets and that the district would provide the resident/staff/student breakout to the board.
Mrs. Bradford recommended framing athletics as an alternate or phased set of projects rather than a lead item, noting that while locker-room and field upgrades showed mixed support, they should not dominate the referendum narrative. She also said the district will prepare a prioritized project selection sheet with itemized cost estimates and that the district plans to apply for 34% state debt-service aid where eligible.
Timing was a central point. The administration advised that to claim the board—s goal of a "net-neutral" tax impact the referendum should be held in March 2026, when existing debt rolls off. "If we get our submission to the DOE by June 1, we believe we can be on the March ballot with aid expectations," the presentation said. Officials warned that delays could create a tax impact if the vote is moved to later in 2026.
Next steps: the administration will deliver a project-selection spreadsheet that allows board members to toggle projects on or off to see cost impacts; staff will compile a follow-up survey and consider a short second-phase poll that includes hypothetical cost scenarios, the board indicated.
Provenance: topic introduced at the superintendent—s presentation of the survey and discussed across SEG 151SEG 595 (presentation) and SEG 596SEG 1020 (questions and timeline).
