Ocean City Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Funds for Primary School Improvements

Ocean City voters are overwhelmingly in favor of funding improvements at the Primary School.

Unofficial results in Tuesday's special election showed voters passed the referendum, 755-239, according to capemaycountyvotes.org. Provisional ballots will be counted Friday and official results will be available on Monday.

The Ocean City School District had been asking for $2,497,421.47 from the public to help fund $6,653,368 in improvements. The district has a grant from the state worth $2,399,279, and is using $1,756,667.53 from its capital reserve fund.

The district estimates the tax increase for the average Ocean City homeowner will be $15.39 a year for the next 10 years.

The project includes replacing the school’s 25-year-old roof; replacing windows that have been a part of the school since it opened in 1965; upgrading the heating and ventilation system; and installing an air conditioner.

Currently, only part of the school has an air conditioner. Certain parts of the building would be air conditioned during the summer, where needed.

Replacing the hot water heater, boilers, lighting in classrooms and multi-purpose rooms, the ceiling system, exterior doors and frames, the fire alarm system and classroom doors are also part of the plan.

The project is scheduled to take place over the summer of 2015, with some preliminary work occurring after school hours in May and June.