Hillsborough High School, Part 2

After Hillsborough voters went to the polls on July 14, 1964, and rejected a $2.9 million bond issue to build a high school at the corner of Amwell and Homestead Roads, school board members went home to lick their wounds and come up with a Plan B. While not giving up the dream of a school solely for Hillsborough students, the first serious proposal came more than a year later.

16 September 1965 Courier News

Montgomery Township was in the same situation as Hillsborough. Despite having only half the number of students, Montgomery had been turned down by every area district in their quest to find a place for their high-schoolers after June 1968. Because Hillsborough already had a site for a school, board members decided to explore the concept of a regional high school with our neighbors to the south.

Here's what Hillsborough school board member Edward Jacobs had to say about the urgency facing the districts:

"Regionalization is just one of the alternatives being investigated by the Hillsborough board, which is now awaiting replies from all high school districts within 15 miles concerning their ability to accept Hillsborough high school students by September, 1968. In view of the facts [sic] that Montgomery, with half the number of our high school students, has been turned down by every school district in the area, it makes me most pessimistic about Hillsborough's finding a receiving district for its children."

A committee was formed with three representative board members and the superintendent of each district, but ultimately the districts decided to abandon the plan and continue to pursue the construction of new schools in each town.

10 June 1966 Courier News

Faced with the prospect that Hillsborough students would have nowhere to go after the 1967-68 school year when Somerville would no longer accept them, the board members, superintendent, and architect spent the next six months working through 16 revisions trying to come up with an economical high school plan that voters would approve.

27 June 1966 Courier News

This second high school plan increased the number of classrooms from 35 to 44, and also included a larger cafeteria and vocal and instrumental music rooms. Because construction costs had risen and the school was larger, the cost would increase from $2.9 million to $3.56 million.

29 June 1966 Courier News

Unlike in 1964, the township committee did not publicly oppose the referendum, which was widely endorsed. Voters went to the polls on June 28, 1966, and gave the project their overwhelming approval.  But that was not the last high school referendum needed before the school could open. We will take a look at referendum numbers 3a, 3b, and 3c, in Part 3 next week.