School changes explained

MANALAPAN - About 75 people, including teachers, showed up for the first of three planned public meetings that Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District officials have scheduled to gauge public feeling about the idea of creating neighborhood schools.

These neighborhood schools- Clark Mills, TaylorMills, LafayetteMills,Milford Brook and Wemrock Brook - would house pupils in grades one through five who live in the neighborhoods that are closest to a particular school.

Superintendent of Schools John J. Marciante Jr. led the first of the meetings on May 8 at the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School (MEMS). He explained the reasons for the proposal in a give-and-take with audience members who turned out to listen and ask questions.

According to Marciante, if some creative way to restructure the allocation of the district's facilities is not developed, there will be a budget shortfall of $1.13 million in the 2009-10 school year and the shortfall could increase thereafter.

"People have been complaining about the cost of education for years," Marciante said. "Everything is going up. There will be increases every year. We will look at what we have to do to make this work. The devil is in the details."

Marciante is recommending making the Pine Brook School a building for all of the district's sixth-graders; leaving MEMS for seventh- and eighth-graders; leaving the John I. Dawes Early Learning Center for all of the district's kindergartners; and making Clark Mills, Taylor Mills, Lafayette Mills, Milford Brook and Wemrock Brook schools for children in the first through fifth grades.

He has proposed the change to become effective in September 2009.

At the present time, the Clark Mills, Taylor Mills and Milford Brook schools educate children in grades one through three; and the Wemrock Brook, Pine Brook and Lafayette Mills schools educate children in grades four through six.

The Board of Education will eventually accept or reject the superintendent's recommendation.

According to Marciante, the mixture of first- through fifth-graders in the same school is working elsewhere in the state. He said it is not an unusual set-up for an elementary school.

The superintendent said while some New Jersey school districts are dealing with budget deficits by cutting teachers and programs, and closing schools, Manalapan-Englishtown has options. Enrollment in the district is expected to remain flat in the coming year at slightly more than 5,500 pupils.

Marciante said the increased state aid the district will receive for 2008-09, "gives us a year to plan for something that won't impact our schools in a negative way. Ways to raise money are not going to happen overnight."

Marciante said administrators should consider running the afterschool program which is presently run by the YMCA of Western Monmouth County. The YMCA derives the profits from that program, he said. If the district ran the program it would retain the profits.

He told those in attendance that "the state does not like courtesy busing" and that is why looking toward unique ways of generating revenue is necessary for the district's survival.

Courtesy busing is the term used to describe bus service a school district provides as a courtesy for pupils who live close enough to their school that they would otherwise be directed to walk to school.

Marciante reminded the audience that the reorganization of the district is in the discussion phase. He said he welcomes and is looking forward to receiving comments from parents letting district administrators know they agree or disagree with the proposal, or perhaps have a suggestion to make.

He said the restructuring of the district'sschoolswouldproduce as avings because six current teaching positions would not be needed and there would be about six teachers at the top of the pay scale who would be ready for retirement at the time he wants to implement the plan.

Marciante's point was that restructuring the schools and realizing savings through staff attrition and lower transportation costs is the least painful solution in a difficult economy while still maintaining the high quality education Manalapan and Englishtown residents expect.

"We're not doing this if it takes us down. This is to improve the district," he said. "When you move into a community you are buying the school system. You bought Manalapan."

Marciante said special education services would not be affected as it relates to self-contained classrooms and programs.

The issue of the district's restructuring will be discussed again at MEMS at 7:30 p.m. May 21 and June 5. Residents of Manalapan and Englishtown are welcome to attend either or both of those meetings.

Parents had differing opinions about the superintendent's recommendation.

Peter Underwood said he was concerned about first-graders being on a bus with fifth-graders.

"I worry about the potential for a bullying problem with first-graders having to travel on a school bus with fifthgraders," he said.

Jennifer Busalacchi is the mother of a kindergartner in the district and both she and her husband are lifelong residents of Manalapan who attended local schools. She said parents may be more concerned about the possible change than their children would be.

"We parents are our own worst enemies. The kids are resilient," Busalacchi said.