Commissioner Evans and Board of Commissioners Spearhead and Deliver on 24-Month Plan to Modernize Schools Without New Residential Taxes

For more than a decade, Nutley residents were asked to consider multimillion-dollar referendums to expand and modernize John H. Walker Middle School. Although these proposals did not advance, the need to update and strengthen Nutley Public Schools remained a shared community priority.

With the full support of the Township Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Tom Evans, moved to break that cycle, utilizing the established One Nutley Committee to make strategic capital investments in Nutley's schools without asking residents to shoulder a proposed $70- to $80-million referendum. This marks a significant step for Nutley, demonstrating what can be accomplished when Township leadership and the school district work toward a common goal.

The One Nutley Committee was established in 2022 through a shared-services agreement between the Township Board of Commissioners and the Nutley Board of Education, bringing both bodies together to enhance efficiency, coordinate planning, and ensure strong educational outcomes for families.

“The district needed a viable, sustainable path forward, and our community deserved a solution that protected taxpayers,” said Commissioner Evans. “One Nutley gives us that opportunity. Together, we’re investing strategically, moving on a clear timeline, and improving our schools in a way that reflects the very best of Nutley’s cooperative spirit.”

One Nutley’s work began with immediate, visible improvements, including exterior beatification and sidewalk renovations at Nutley High School, along with repairs at Lincoln School and renovations to the multipurpose room and bleachers at Radcliffe School. These early projects demonstrated with the BOC guidance and leadership that results could come rapidly and laid the groundwork for the larger two-year plan that followed.

With that foundation in place, the 24-month plan became the centering focus of the One Nutley initiative, designed to deliver the most significant, long-term changes to how Nutley’s schools function.

A key part of the plan was turning a 20,000-square-foot commercial building into a modern school facility. The project addressed two major needs at once: creating a permanent home for the Nutley Board of Education and expanding early childhood education.

The three-story building was completely gutted and redesigned for the school district. It now includes the Board of Education offices, 10 new classrooms and serves as Nutley’s Early Development Center, giving more local families access to Pre-K and early learning programs.

The project was completed in less than nine months, allowing the Early Development Center to open in September 2025, ahead of the middle school transition that followed this year.

"Taking a three-story building down to its shell and rebuilding it into a state-of-the-art early learning center and a permanent home for the Board of Education, in such a short time, is a remarkable achievement," Evans said. "Combining both priorities into a single building was the most efficient way to deliver them. And getting it open by September 2025 shows what this committee can accomplish when we move with purpose."

State law limits the Township’s ability to pay for the school district’s day-to-day expenses. However, it allows the Township to invest in school buildings, improvements, and long-term planning. That is where One Nutley has focused, using funding sources that do not add to residential property tax bills:

• State aid is funding the expansion of Pre-K (ages 3-4) and early childhood education, not local property taxes.

• Commercially sourced PILOT tax revenue — ratables generated by business and commercial properties, not homeowners — is funding capital projects, including school facility improvements and renovations.

"We structured this deliberately," Evans said. "By relying on commercial ratables and state aid rather than a residential tax increase, we’re able to make the investments our schools need while protecting the people who live here."

With the Early Development Center open, the plan turned to its second major phase: interior renovations at John H. Walker Middle School, completed in time to welcome Nutley’s sixth grade class earlier this month. The milestone creates, for the first time, a genuine Grades 6–8 Middle School rather than a junior high school.

"Welcoming our sixth graders to the Middle School and opening our new Pre-K building last year are proud milestones for our district,” Commissioner Joseph P. Scarpelli says. “These achievements demonstrate what is possible when the BOC and BOE unite their resources to build a stronger, more forward-thinking educational system for our students."

The $1.9 million in middle school renovations was funded through a combination of contributions designed to keep the cost off residential tax bills:

• $550,000 from the municipality

• $150,000 in state aid, secured by Commissioner Evans

• Approximately $1.2 million provided by the school district

"Moving the sixth graders to the middle school gives our students a real middle-school experience and creates a clean K-5 and 6-8 structure across the district," Evans said. "It also frees up classroom space at the elementary level, which helps address class-size needs and gives us the potential to reduce our reliance on trailers and mobile classrooms.”

“The goals of the One Nutley initiative have been ambitious, especially with many obstacles we’ve had to overcome,” Commissioner Alphonse Petracco stated. “Our collaboration has enabled us to make meaningful progress in record time on one of our most important priorities: our children’s educational experience.”

“One Nutley reflects what becomes possible when the Township and the school district work side by side,” Evans continued. “This plan addresses needs that have been discussed for more than a decade, strengthens educational opportunities for the next generation, and does so responsibly—without asking Nutley families to take on the burden of another referendum.”