Collingswood Public School District

The board is asking voters for an extra $4,560,822 a year to maintain existing staff, student support services, school operations and core programming. It is operating money, not building money. The figure is the expected scenario in the district's own long-range analysis, was set one day before the state filing deadline, and can later be reduced but never raised; administrators had straw-polled $5 million in July and came down after the mayor warned the second half of a one-time state levy incentive was landing on tax bills at the same time. The district's own referendum material does not state a cost per household or say whether the increase is permanent. Administrators told the board that if it fails, all athletics and activities at every level become pay-to-play, class sizes across all grades return to the table, and a further school closure is possible.

1. Apr 21, 2026Board first discusses an operating referendum in detail
2. Jul 13, 2026Two legal routes compared; board straw-polls $5 million
3. Aug 19, 2026Board votes 8-0 to ask for $4,560,822; filing goes to the state the next day
4. Sep 28, 2026Community letter drafted, weekly public events planned; a public meeting held at the senior centre
5. Nov 3, 2026Vote

Collingswood Middle School and Collingswood High School now run as one campus, announced in April 2025 and described by the superintendent as one school, one campus, one culture. Management is organised by grade band, 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12, each with a director of instruction, a school climate officer and an administrative assistant, replacing a principal and assistant principals at each school; a 6-12 special education supervisor and a 6-12 athletics and activities director were restored and the counselling and wellness centres combined. The superintendent told the board this is a response to falling enrolment rather than a way to increase it. Two school codes are being kept for at least a year because the high school receives federal Title I money and the middle school does not, which also delays a decision on merging the two parent-teacher associations.

1. Jan 22, 2026Invitation-only public information session, not put online
2. Mar 23, 2026Consolidation included in the budget submitted to the state
3. May 18, 2026Revised organisation chart and administrator job descriptions approved
4. Sep 1, 2026First school year on one campus begins

Garfield closed after 111 years and its 113 children moved to the four remaining elementary schools, with places confirmed on May 7 and transition work running from spring walking visits through summer buddy meetings. The board voted to have the school removed from its long-range facilities plan. A sale is possible but not decided: state approval is required before disposal, the superintendent cautioned the board that the building itself is worth little and the land is what has value, and that a sale is one-time money that cannot fund an annual budget. Proceeds have been earmarked for the capital and maintenance reserves. A request for appraisal proposals went out in July and the appraisal was received in late September.

1. Apr 29, 2026Board votes 9-1 to close the school
2. May 7, 2026Families told which school their child moves to
3. Jun 22, 2026Garfield's last day
4. Jul 13, 2026Request for appraisal proposals issued
5. Sep 28, 2026Appraisal received; expected on the October board agenda

After the 2024 facilities bond did not proceed, the district and the borough signed what the superintendent called a historic ten-year shared services agreement to develop the athletic complex jointly, with the borough's contribution capped at $10.5 million. School playgrounds opened to the community from June 24, 2026. The business administrator told the board she was nervous about bid prices, that the plan had already been cut back to reach the cap and that a playground rebuild had been removed, and that if bids come in high the work will be rebid or value-engineered. In September the board authorised submitting the athletic complex to the state as a capital project, noting it had been approved as part of the earlier bond referendum and that no state aid is being sought. The district must also start reserving money to maintain the new fields.

1. Jun 22, 2026Ten-year shared services agreement approved
2. Jun 24, 2026School playgrounds open to the community
3. Jul 13, 2026Construction manager request for proposals drafted and sent to the borough
4. Sep 28, 2026Athletic complex submitted to the state as a capital project, with no state aid sought