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Voters to consider N.J. school projects

Across the state Tuesday, voters in a dozen school districts will decide whether to authorize spending millions to repair and improve facilities, while one is weighing a move to reconfigure the district itself.

Across the state Tuesday, voters in a dozen school districts will decide whether to authorize spending millions to repair and improve facilities, while one is weighing a move to reconfigure the district itself.

In Camden County, Magnolia will consider an approximately $6.6 million project - about $3.9 million of which would be covered by state funds - to improve its only school, which houses prekindergarten through Grade 8. Upgrades include a roof replacement and new windows.

School officials in Clayton, Gloucester County, are seeking to improve the borough's high school and middle school complex - including adding a new auditorium and partially replacing the roof - and implement some upgrades at the Herma S. Simmons Elementary School. The total cost is about $9.7 million; the district would receive nearly $2.2 million in state aid.

In total, the construction proposals in the state are valued at almost $275 million, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA).

A question before the Lower Cape May Regional School District will decide whether Cape May City should end its role in the district, also comprised of Lower Township and West Cape May. If approved, students from the city would continue to attend the middle and high school under the district, but the municipality would pay for each student under a "sending-receiving" contract, according to the NJSBA.

A study commissioned by Cape May City, released last year, said that the city pays a "disproportionate" amount toward the district's operations and that the municipality could save about $5 million annually by withdrawing. Opponents have decried the proposal because of potential tax increases in the other district towns. Cape May Point also uses the district on a "sending-receiving" agreement.

- Angelo Fichera