Seaside Heights Approves $4.4M Referendum on Boyd School Upgrades

The Hugh J. Boyd elementary school in Seaside Heights, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Voters in Seaside Heights on Tuesday approved a plan to raise $4.4 million to improve the Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School on Bay Boulevard, the only school in town.

The special election on the referendum question drew 152 voters to the polls. In total, 88 people voted in favor of the spending plan while 64 voted against it.

James D. Roselli, who serves as superintendent of the single-school district along with Berkeley Township, presented an improvement plan to the borough council last month.

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The $4,445,415 appropriation would replace what was described as a “failing” electrical heat and air conditioning system, as well as a host of internal technology components. A backup generator would also be added to the school property. The electric HVAC system would be replaced by a natural gas system, with new hot water ventilators providing heat to classrooms. The system would also be able to be controlled remotely in order to regulate long-term costs. Vaz said the state would cover $1.5 million of the cost if approved.

For taxpayers, Roselli said the project will add about $81 annually to the property tax bill for a home assessed at the borough’s average of $594,149.

The Boyd school was saved from closure in 2024, when voters rejected a separate referendum that would have subsumed Seaside Heights into the Toms River Regional school district. After the measure was defeated, the Seaside Heights Board of Education aligned the K-6 school with Berkeley Township, choosing Roselli to be its chief administrator.