Ringwood Public Schools Facilities Blog

The Ringwood Board of Education is proposing two major projects to refurbish the Eleanor G. Hewitt School.  The first, the renovation of the Hewitt School, is estimated to cost $5,339,276 and it includes new roofing for sections of Hewitt, new windows, technology and electrical upgrades, fire safety upgrades, heating and air handling upgrades, new boilers, new doors, ADA upgrades, and numerous other improvements.  The second project is the replacement of the portables with new construction and is estimated to cost $5,856,674.  It includes adding an elevator, as required by state and federal law, as well as adding some expanded office space, a new state-of-the-art media center, four classrooms, etc.  There is $230,000 included to be utilized for the rental of 2 trailers for office space and restrooms during the construction period. 

With the current configuration, the bond issue would be for $11,195,950 financed over 20 years.  At this point there are 2 scenarios that may occur.  Scenario 1 is that the state withholds state aid on projects like this one.  The state may decide to do this indefinitely.  If this happens, we get $0 in state aid and the tax increase for a home valued at $355,382 would be accessed an additional $167.  The second scenario is that the state continues to provide state aid, but at a reduced level.  In scenario 2, we should be entitled to approximately $1,815,354 in state aid for the renovations to Hewitt and another $632,000 for the new construction.  This totals an estimated $2,447,352 in state debt service and the tax increase for a home valued at $355,382 would be an additional $137..  With state debt service, the state provides a percentage of the funding plus interest each year over the length of the bond issue for the projects.  This will reduce the Ringwood tax burden from $11,195,950 to approximately $8,748,598.  This is a 22% reduction in the tax burden for Ringwood taxpayers on these projects.  These numbers are estimates and may change as more information becomes available.  Once the state approves our projects for state aid, the debt service figures will be locked in, but until that time the figures may change. 

The board’s intention is to take care of all known renovations required at the Hewitt School so that the job is done correctly.  We understand that if we do not do a complete and thorough job, the community will be justifiably outraged if we have to come back in a couple of years and say we need more money for Hewitt.  Although we cannot see into the future, we feel that the current projects will cover most, if not all, of Hewitt School’s major maintenance needs for the next 30 to 40 years.