South Jersey School District Wants to Buy the Farm

This is probably the most blatant plan for School Sprawl that I have ever seen.

The Gloucester County Times reports that the Kingsway School District is looking at 3 parcels of land for its new middle school. The district say that a new school is needed to meet the needs of a growing student population would require between 65 to 100 acres if the forecast trends in population growth continue. One of the sites being looked at is an entire dairy farm.

Really?

But an interesting line at the end of the article reflects the reality of a collapsed housing market: "We've seen a significant slowdown in construction permits," Woolwich (Township) Mayor Joe Chila said. "This past month there are only two new houses that started."

Perhaps the township and the school district should take advantage of the slowdown to come up with a smart and sustainable land use plan that includes properly siting a school.


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The dairy farm site as seen from the NJ Turnpike