Subject: Mullica Twp. Officials ponder fate of Gertrude Lauer School building: by Ben Meritt, Hammonton News; It is affectionately call “The Little Red Schoolhouse.” Generations of township residents have passed through it doors, but now school officials are pondering the fate of one of the township’s true but aging treasures. The Gertrude Lauer School on Darmstadt Avenue has been vacant since last June and its days as an educational facility, at least for the Mullica Township School District, appear to be over, according to Mullica Superintendent of Schools Richard Goldberg. The building has most recently been used as a pre-school for neighboring Egg Harbor City, Goldberg said, but school officials returned the pre-school program to its district last September. “We haven’t used the school in three years and, at this point, it doesn’t look like Egg Harbor City is going to use it either. They are back using their own facilities,” Goldberg said last week. Mullica has seen a steady decline in enrollment in recent years, Goldberg said, and there is plenty of space thanks to the remodeled and expanded Elwood School. Built in 1910, the Gertrude Lauer School, which was named after a local schoolteacher, was originally known as the Agricultural School. The school has a strong sentimental value in the community, something that school officials are well aware of. “That’s the whole thing. We know there’s a sentimental value to that piece of property here and this building,” said district business administrator Betty Edwards. “The board really wants input from the community.” Goldberg said the public is welcome to submit ideas for the use of the Lauer School, which sites on a 1.7 acre lot in a residential area about a mile off the White Horse Pike. “There are no simple solutions,” Goldberg said. Currently, the district is spending $6,000 a year for insurance and security for the building. Estimates are in the $50,000 range to refurbish the structure and bring it to compliance with current disability and other codes, school officials said. Goldberg said there is no timetable, per say, to reach a decision on the school’s future. “There’s not a big rush but there is a financial clock ticking,” Goldberg said. One of the first suggestions for the structure was renovating it into a home, Goldberg said. One of the fist suggestions for the structure was renovating it into a home, Goldberg said. “We’re hoping to get some more ideas. Somebody cold come in and use it as a dance studio,” Goldberg said. “A storage facility. The township might want it.” “We take into consideration anything the community suggests,” added Edwards. Residents may submit their comments to Superintendent Richard Goldberg, Mullica Township Schools, 500 Elwood Road, Elwood, NJ 08217.

RESPONSE: At the April 23rd Mullica School Board meeting the input was described as; 1 exercise place, 1 public library, 1 sell it, 1 use for latchkey, 1 sports center, 1 bible study, 7 Historical/Cultural Center, 11 Senior Center.

The discussion then sought to determine if the Township might have some interest in buying the Lauer School (say for dollar) and using it for the community. Committee person Janet Forman who was at this School Board meeting indicated that this was an idea that was worthy of exploration and she would take the idea back to the other members of the governing body.

At the Town Meeting on the following night the matter was raised by Ms. Forman and THE CORRUTP MULLICA 5 AKA IDIOTS R US seemed to express interest in exploring options. After the meeting some members of the Mullica Volunteer Rescue Squad floated the idea of that location as an option for building a bay for their ambulances. One would hope that idea would die quickly as Mullica is one of only three towns out of 23 in Atlantic County to have a volunteer ambulance squad...and the reality of the difficulty of staffing seems to make the move to a paid squad only a matter of time.