This Day in History: 1962-08-20
The annual problem of when and whether to expand the number of elementary classrooms in the Mahwah schools was considered again at the School Board meeting. The schools were three classrooms short at the time, and the school budget had been turned down twice during the preceding year. The shortage was expected to be six during 1966-67. The District had contracted to accept students from Allendale and Upper Saddle River until 1965 when the new regional High School was scheduled to open but these were high school students, mostly and the shortages were in elementary grades. The Board once more expressed its opposition to using some room at the High School for grade six, but at the time the High School was filled to capacity with the out-of-district students. The Planning Board had recommended the previous week that the Board look into purchasing property to the southwest of the High School for expansion purposes. It was expected that community growth would continue at a steady pace with no hints as to what part of town would experience the most growth. Extensive consideration of the problem, however, was prevented by the insistent questions from a group from Fardale who objected to waste in the contracting of the High School, the inefficient design of the campus-style school and demanded the extension of George Washington School instead of the use of the Fardale Fire House and the Conner House as classroom space. (Bristow)