Fair Lawn Schools Seek Grant For Westmoreland Expansion

A proposed expansion to Westmoreland Elementary could provide needed classroom space and a new media center for the crowded school, while also allowing some district programs to be moved there to create room for a future full-day kindergarten program.

The Fair Lawn Board of Education voted to submit an application to the New Jersey Department of Education for the 10,000-square-foot expansion and a ROD grant to pay for the project during their meeting Thursday night.

Currently, Westmoreland is one of Fair Lawn's most crowded schools. Educators have to be creative with how to use their space at the crowded school, according to Superintendent Bruce Watson. The school uses one classroom as its media center and sometimes holds more than one use in the same room at the same time.

"Westmoreland is already bursting at the seams," Watson said.

The expansion would include a new media center, four new full-size classrooms and a fifth that would be split into either two small group instruction rooms or one small group instruction room and part of the new media center, an office for the child study team, bathrooms and a new courtyard.

The added media center space would be ideal for computers needed for the upcoming PARCC standardized test, according to Watson.

"We think it's a great [idea]," Watson said.

If the state awards the grant to Fair Lawn, it will only cover 40 percent of the costs. The rest will have to come from in the district, possibly through a referendum.

If Fair Lawn isn't awarded the grant, it will likely be several years before the opportunity comes again, according to Watson. The state does not make ROD grants available every year. Fair Lawn last received one in the 2005-06 school year.