Clementon School District

Building a Bright Future for Clementon 

Special Election - September 15, 2026

Understanding how school funding and capital projects work can be complex. Below is a series of frequently asked questions to keep our community informed.

Q: What is a bond referendum?

A: A bond referendum is a community-wide vote that determines whether a school district is authorized to borrow funds by selling bonds. An approved referendum allows the district to utilize state debt service aid, which isn't available through the regular annual budget.

Q: Is there a funding alternative besides a bond referendum?

A: Yes. New legislation enables a partnership between the Board of Education, the Borough, and the Camden County Improvement Authority (CCIA) to fund capital projects. This unique option allows the CCIA to issue bonds, which enables the project to proceed without a traditional public referendum or community vote. All three entities must be fully aligned. 

Q: Why is a dedicated preschool building being proposed?

A: The current preschool program is limited and serves only 75 students across five classrooms, which has led to significant overcrowding where teachers must travel with carts and students are often displaced into hallways or distracted by shared classroom spaces. Since our existing school site is constrained by wetland restrictions, there is no physical room to expand on the current property to meet these needs. A new building would accommodate anticipated enrollment growth.

A: By relocating the preschool program to a dedicated early childhood education building, the district will create additional space within the existing school to better serve students in grades K–8. This expansion will allow the district to establish a dedicated sensory room for students with special needs, increase middle school elective offerings, and maintain smaller class sizes across the elementary grades to strengthen foundational learning and provide more individualized support for students. 

A: Yes. By utilizing vacated space to build a dedicated sensory room, the District will create a highly specialized program for students with specific sensory processing and special education needs. In addition to keeping our own students close to home and significantly reducing our out-of-district tuition expenses, this specialized program will allow the district to accept tuition-paying students from neighboring school districts, bringing a brand-new revenue stream into the Clementon School District.

A: The annual operating budget covers day-to-day costs like salaries, supplies, and utilities. A referendum allows the district to fund large-scale renovations or new construction that exceed our regular operating budget while spreading the cost over an extended period of time.

A: Yes. If voters approve the referendum, homeowners will see a tax increase. The specific impact on your tax bill depends on the assessed value of your property (not the market value), the total size and interest rate of the bond, and the amount of state aid received.

A: When a referendum passes, the New Jersey Department of Education provides debt service aid for "eligible" portions of the project. Instead of local taxpayers covering 100% of the project cost, the state covers a percentage of the annual principal and interest payments, significantly lowering the local tax burden. In a preliminary approval, the State will cover an estimated 65% of eligible project costs.

A: Rejecting the project comes with consequences that include:

1. 1. Loss of State Funding: If the project does not move forward, Clementon School District would forfeit the $700,000 in state funding that has already been approved for the project. In addition, the district could lose approximately $1.7 million in annual state preschool operating aid, significantly impacting funding for early childhood education and limiting the district's ability to sustain and expand its preschool program, as the Lindenwold School is a temporary arrangement.
   2. Compromised Infrastructure: Our school building will continue to face classroom overcrowding, strained parking, and inefficient traffic and drop-off lines that impact daily student safety.
   3. Out-of-District Costs: In the long term, if overcrowding forces the district to send students out-of-district to meet educational mandates, the district could be faced with approximately $2.88 million per year in tuition and transportation costs for middle school students alone.

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