Plan will be enacted when school referendum passes

I feel compelled to respond to the misguided claim concerning the innovative land exchange proposal that will ultimately result in a new high school being built on 35 acres in Thompson Park. Some opponents of the current plan state that even if the Dec. 9 bond referendum is approved, the Monroe Township Board of Education will not be able to build a high school on the 35 acres.

Says who?

As reported at a recent Board of Education meeting, a letter to the board from the Department of Environmental Protection showed that the DEP has "supported approximately two dozen school land exchange proposals of one kind or another." Certainly the board would not move forward with this bond referendum if it were not confident that its proposal would be approved. Why in the world would the board engage in such a charade that takes up so much of its time and energy? There is no reason.

Unfortunately, the school board cannot get a definitive approval from the DEP unless a bond referendum is passed. Having done its homework, the board has ruled out alternative sites in Monroe due to wetlands, lack of power and sewer lines, exorbitant costs and other constraints. As a result, the board has no choice but to move forward in good faith with the plan at hand.

The Dec. 9 bond referendum represents an innovative plan that will provide taxpayers with free land for the new high school and, most importantly, with a way to address increased student enrollment in our schools and maintain reasonable class sizes.

Don’t listen to the angry rhetoric of a desperate few. I urge all pro-education citizens in Monroe Township to vote yes on Dec. 9.

Lisa Weinthal

Monroe