Second Chatham High Expansion Up for Bid

The “Phase-Two” addition to a building at Chatham High School and Regular Operating District (ROD) grants were discussed last week, as District Business Administrator Peter Daquila updated the school board on the status of ongoing projects.

The update was a component of the administrator’s report at a regular Board of Education business meeting for the District of the Chathams on July 31. 

“Phase-Two” involves an addition to a project at Chatham High completed in 2012. The ROD grants refer to the New Jersey State Department of Education’s fourth allocation of grant funding for school facilities projects, according to the D.O.E.’s website.

“Phase-Two”

The addition, which is “more expensive,” according to Daquila, than the first round of the project, would provide for additional classrooms in the bridge connecting the second floor to the back of the existing school.

“Ads have been placed in newspapers for contractors to collect job specifications,” said Daquila. “They can apply as of yesterday, and through mid-August. The architect will review (the proposal) and hopefully we’ll announce an approval at the August 28 meeting.”

ROD Grants

Project applications are due into the state between June 3 and September 4, and at the moment the school district has “an architect working on the plans,” according to Daquila.

The District of the Chathams application for the grant, which would fund 40 percent of funding and capital costs, involves five projects at various schools.

The work includes replacing four toilet rooms and a sidewalk near the auditorium at the high school, two toilet rooms and windows by the auditorium at the middle school, and two more toilet rooms at Washington Ave. School. 

The projects would appear on the District budget for two cycles, from 2014-15 and 2015-16, as per the project timeline allowed by the state.

The grant program stems from an initiative by New Jersey’s Schools Development Authority, resumed in 2010, which provides grants to Regular Operating Districts, which are at risk for safety or overcrowding concerns, or are in need of general maintenance.