BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer

MONROE - The Board of Education next week will host a public presentation on the status of its proposed elementary and high school buildings.

Board member Joseph Homoki said officials want the public to be aware of the progress of each proposal, which were approved in separate referendums.

"The board decided that we need to pass more information on to the public about both the high school and the elementary school as to where it stands at any one time," Homoki said.

The meeting will take place at 8 p.m. June 28 in the high school's performing arts center, Perrineville Road.

James Morton, from MRM Architecture, the North Brunswick firm hired to design the high school, will make the presentation on the high school. Morton will cover the updated versions of the floor plan design, site plan design and exterior elevation graphics, as well as the overall project schedule.

He will also take questions from the board and public.

The Prisco Group, a Hopewell-based architecture firm that will be designing the elementary school, is sending Scott Prisco to make the presentation on the elementary school. He will cover the above-mentioned topics, as well as the Department of Education review process and projected occupancy date, Homoki said.

"I think the meeting on the 28th will probably answer many, many questions that people may have, and I urge people to attend, and certainly get involved and ask questions," Homoki said.

The high school proposal is a bit more complicated, given its proposed location in a section of Thompson Park.

In January, the State House Commission approved the township's proposal to divert 152 acres of township land and $1.12 million to the county for 35 acres of park land.

Officials hope that land, located across School House Road from the current Perrineville Road high school building, will be the home of the new high school, which would hold about 1,800 students. District officials plan for the school to be completed by 2011.

Also in January, voters approved a referendum for a $26.8 million elementary school to be located on a 30-acre parcel on Applegarth Road, across the street from the Applegarth School. The new school would hold 700 students, and officials plan to open the school in September 2008.

The land was conveyed to the school board by the township, which acquired the property when developer Calton Homes used a cluster option on an approved development in the area.

When the new high school is completed, officials plan to convert the current high school building to a middle school. The two schools would share athletic fields and other facilities in a campus environment.

Applegarth School, which currently serves as the district's middle school, would become a sister school to the proposed elementary facility, giving the district six elementary schools.

Homoki said residents often accuse school officials of being out of touch with both projects, especially the high school, and that was one reason for scheduling the presentations.

"We always hear complaints that we don't know about what's going on with the school, and so on," Homoki said. "We also decided that every time we have the school story come out, which is our four-times-a-year newspaper, that we'll devote a section of it just exclusively to both the elementary school and the high school."

The State House Commission's ruling has been appealed by several environmental groups, including the local Park Savers, and their complaint has yet to be addressed by the court.

Homoki said the overall project is still on schedule.

"We're very pleased with the progress of the elementary school, and of course we had some delays with the high school, but again we're optimistic that by December we'll be able to go out for bid," Homoki said.