Woodbridge Board Moves Hopelawn School No. 10 Into State Review

Woodbridge’s Board of Education has moved plans for a new elementary school in Hopelawn into a formal New Jersey Department of Education review, while major approval, financing and construction steps remain ahead.

At its June 18, 2026, meeting, the board approved submitting plans for School No. 10 and authorized a $57,228 payment required with the state submission. The proposed K-5 school would be built at 90 Clyde Avenue, on the former Clyde Avenue Park site.

The project is intended to serve families in Hopelawn and Keasbey. Local reporting has identified a practical reason families are watching the proposal: Some students in those communities currently face bus rides of more than 30 minutes each way. A closer school could eventually reduce travel burdens for some students, although the project would not eliminate bus transportation or necessarily serve every child in the two neighborhoods.

A proposed September 2028 opening

The current planning target is a September 2028 opening. That date remains a target rather than a guarantee. The board’s action advances the plans for state review; it does not represent final state approval or mean that construction is underway.

The New Jersey Department of Education must review the submitted plans, and additional project, financing, site and construction decisions remain. The schedule could change depending on those reviews and the completion of remaining approvals.

Financing would rely on PILOT revenues

A March 11, 2026, New Jersey Local Finance Board transcript describes an authorized or proposed financing package of up to $78.522 million for the Hopelawn school project. Debt service is expected to be supported by payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOT revenues, connected to Woodbridge Township.

That structure is different from saying the project has no taxpayer consequences. Residents will still want to follow the final borrowing terms, repayment obligations and project costs as the plan develops.

Parkland replacement commitments remain part of the plan

The proposed site involves a parkland transaction tied to the former Clyde Avenue Park. Woodbridge’s Green Acres hearing notice outlines replacement acreage and commitments for recreational facilities connected to the land transfer. The transaction is therefore not an unrestricted conversion of parkland.

State environmental records also document freshwater-wetlands authorization for the Clyde Avenue and Turcotte Memorial Park school site. That documentation supports the site’s permitting history, but it does not by itself constitute final school approval or authorization to complete construction.

For Hopelawn and Keasbey families, the immediate change is procedural: School No. 10 has moved from planning discussions into a state-review stage. The larger questions—whether the project receives all remaining approvals, how the financing is finalized and whether the September 2028 target holds—remain open.

Sources

• The Central Jerseyan report on the school-board action
• New Jersey Local Finance Board transcript
• Woodbridge Township Green Acres Hearing Notice
• New Jersey Environmental Permit Record