Matawan Aberdeen BOE Seeking $1.5M in Grants to Fund Improvement Projects

Story by Anastasia Millicker, anastasia.millicker@patch.com

Eight grant applications are in the works to help fund capital projects at all seven Matawan Aberdeen Regional School District schools.

The $3.88 million in improvement projects includes boiler and fire alarm replacements at Matawan Regional High School and Matawan Aberdeen Middle School; and second floor heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), fire alarm and fire doors replacements at Cliffwood Elementary School and Lloyd Road Elementary School, according to Peter Campisano, AIA, Director of Project Management at USA Architects.

The district is also planning to replace fire alarms and HVAC systems at Strathmore and Ravine Drive, as well as provide Americans with Disabilities Act site upgrades at Ravine Drive. At Cambridge Park Elementary School, the district plans to replace the HVAC control system to allow the temperatures of all schools to be controlled from one place, according to Campisano.

“Currently the schools have zoned fire alarms so that when an alarm goes off, it would say it was in the 500 wing,” he said. “While the new alarm system would be an addressed system so we can indicate okay the alarm was set off in room 401.”

Campisano said he would be submitting eight grants, one for each school for the assessment for safety improvements and an additional one for Ravine Drive Elementary School for the ADA upgrades. The grants, if received, would cover approximately 40 percent of costs associated with the project they were allocated for, approximating $1,552,000 in state grants.

The grants for these projects must be sent to the state by Sept. 4. Once the state receives the proposals, the projects will then be assessed and prioritized according to level of significance, with safety improvements ranking highest. The grant proposals will then be returned to districts in January and grants will be valid for two years.

The next meeting of the Board of Education will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Administration Building, 1 Crest Way in Aberdeen. The purpose of the meeting is for the Board of Education to discuss goal setting for the 2013-2014 school year.