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Clifton Pushing 500-Student School ; Undeterred By Defeat of Expansion Plan

Posted on: Tuesday, 31 January 2006, 15:10 CST

By BRIAN SPADORA, SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

CLIFTON -- A week after voters rejected expanding a planned school on Brighton Road, the future of the original project remains unclear.

The Board of Education is proceeding with its application for a zoning variance to build a 500-student school at 290 Brighton Road, which voters approved in 2004.

But the voters' opposition last week to a plan to expand the school to accommodate 1,150 more students raised several questions:

* Is it practical to build a school for 500 ninth-graders and a second school for roughly 1,200 students, when there are sites where one 1,700-student school could be built?

* If the board builds the 500-student school, would the building become unnecessary in the event that voters approve a plan later this year to build a second, larger school?

* Is William Van Ness, a businessman who fought last week's referendum and who opposes the smaller school, continuing his objection to the school board's application to build the 500- student school?

After 59 percent of voters opposed expanding the planned school on Brighton Road, some residents questioned whether the original project is worth pursuing.

"Now that the second part of the project has gotten knocked down, I'm really hoping the first part gets knocked down, too," said Stephen Demko, 42, of Lakeview Avenue, who said he voted against both the 500-student school and the proposed expansion.

Demko said the school board should build one larger school at Latteri Park or on the former Athenia Steel site.

Visitors to an online forum about Clifton have posted similar opinions.

But school board President Joseph Kolodziej said Monday that having two separate buildings gives the district flexibility.

The board hopes to receive a zoning variance in the next two months to build the 500-student school, which would open in September 2007, he said.

If by the end of the year voters approve building a 1,200- student school, that facility would not open until September 2009, he said. The smaller school would house ninth-graders until then, in order to relieve crowding at the high school.

Once the larger school is built, Kolodziej said, the school board could use the 500-student school. The school has been designed with large classrooms that could be adapted for a variety of purposes, including a school for students with an interest in a particular academic area, or a magnet school for kindergarten students, he said.

Having a separate building for 500 students "certainly isn't impractical in a district this starved for space," Kolodziej said.

But an opponent still stands in the way of the school board's plan.

Van Ness, who spent $50,000 to oppose the proposed expansion, has also been fighting the school board's application for a zoning variance to build the 500-student school.

Van Ness has argued any school on Brighton Road would hurt his nearby plastic pet-products business, as well as threaten the safety of students who would be attending school in an area zoned for industry.

In a statement issued through his public relations firm, Van Ness said he plans to continue appearing at zoning board meetings to oppose the school board's application.

The zoning board will continue to hear the application at special meetings Thursday and Feb. 16, both at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

***

E-mail: spadora@northjersey.com

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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