'Sorely Needed' School Projects Get Final OK from Cherry Hill BOE

Nearly $18 million in school construction projects, funded in part by $7 million in state grants, got final approval from the Cherry Hill school board Tuesday night, clearing the way for improvements at nearly every school in the district.

Forty of 42 school improvement projects Cherry Hill school administrators submitted to the state received some kind of funding, totaling about 40 percent of the total cost.

That leaves local taxpayers on the hook for about $10.75 million of the total price tag, which includes some lease-purchase agreements and other direct-install projects.

The bulk of the projects had already met with board approval as part of what was originally pitched as an energy savings program, but a major project at Cherry Hill East, designed to stop stormwater from seeping into the building, had to be retroactively approved.

That $3.7 million project amounts to a wall replacement on one of East’s courtyards—a problem the district may eventually face at several schools, said Jim Devereaux, the district’s assistant superintedent and business administrator.

“We’re going to have to undertake a more concerted effort to get things away from the walls,” he said, indicating there are plans to tear out some trees and shrubs in interior courtyards. “East is one of those schools where we have to do substantial work on the walls. That causes havoc with the indoor air quality.”

Devereaux said stormwater penetrating those courtyard walls can be a factor in mold problems, like the one seen at East this past summer, which administrators pinned at least partly on the wetter-than-average season.

Work has already begun on other projects across the district, Devereaux said, which include new boilers, fire alarm replacements, a new roof at Bret Harte Elementary and asbestos abatement at several schools.

“They’re working second shift, and those guys are really moving,” he said. “That’s a home run.”

School board member Elliott Roth, who chairs the business and finance committee, said he was glad to see infrastructure problems address across the township.

“This is all fantastic,” he said. “All these projects…are sorely needed.”

Devereaux said he was at least somewhat surprised the two unfunded projects—including an asbestos abatement project—weren’t approved by the state, but state officials have yet to say why.