SPOTSWOOD — In September, the Board of Education hired an outside service, the Helfgott Group, to conduct a feasibility study of the district’s four schools.
The purpose of this study was for the board to identify those areas in need of improvement within the school system.
Helfgott completed the study and presented their findings before the school board earlier this year.
"Basically, this study told us what we already knew," said Spotswood High School Principal Peter Karycki. "However, our opinions now have the credibility and support of an outside agency, which should help us to convince the public of what changes need to be made."
Among the first issues to be addressed in the feasibility report was the space commonly referred to as the high school’s "cafetorium." Presently, this room serves as an eating area for three lunch periods and as a room for large group presentations which include theatrical productions, music programs, community meetings and assemblies.
The space is also used for wrestling practice as well as equipment storage.
The Helfgott Group recommended the construction of a state-of-the-art auditorium to reduce the amount of use the cafetorium experiences.
The reasoning was that a separate space would make the events being held there seem "cutting edge," creating a more practical and creatively-charged atmosphere for the students to learn and apply their studies.
As an added bonus, this new auditorium might also double as a community center where evening meetings could be held.
"It was no surprise to me whatsoever that the study saw a problem with this setup," Karycki said. "After all, we not only hold many of our high school activities here, but those of Memorial, Schoenly and Appleby (schools) as well."
Karycki also pointed out that scheduling classes and presentations in the cafetorium can often be a chore because the staff needs to make sure they will not conflict with other activities, such as the three lunch periods.
Scheduling a presentation also involves taking its set-up time into consideration, something which needs to be done around other activities, he said.
If the principal needs to call an assembly, it is often a drama class that is asked to temporarily relocate to another room without a stage.
"Truthfully, this is neither ideal, nor fair, but often the only solution," Karycki added. "To be honest, I don’t know how we’ve lasted as long as we have with such an impractical system in place."
A second major problem the group found was with the high school’s "auxiliary gyms," located on the second floor on either side of the main gymnasium.
Currently, these two rooms can only be used for storage because of an inadequate number exits. Right now, there is only one entrance/exit for the area and safety standards would require that more be added before reverting it to classroom use.
As a solution, Helfgott recommended the school investigate and comply with proper construction requirements so that these auxiliary gyms can be used for wrestling, dance and weight training.
The cafetorium would no longer be used for wrestling practice and the main gym would now be able to accommodate the growing demands of other athletic activities in the building.
The study also showed a need for expansion of the high school’s current home economics and child care labs. Right now the two areas are one, separated only by bookshelves.
The recommendation was for the home economics lab to be transformed into a major culinary arts facility, using top of the line appliances and allowing generous counter and storage space.
The child care lab would be temporarily moved into the middle school and the vacant space would be used for the Home Economics lab’s expansion.
Other study findings included a need for the existing library, or media center, to be reorganized so as to discourage students from treating it as a thoroughfare from class to class.
The library, read the study, should serve as the school’s "hub" and resume normal media center functions as soon as possible.
Karycki couldn’t agree more.
"The media center is literally the heart of the school because it is located in the middle of the building," Karycki said. "And while that location is ideal for the purpose the room is supposed to serve, it also means that extra steps need to be taken in order to best allow it to do so."
Furthermore, the Helfgott study pointed out a need for a larger computer writing lab where students can type papers during lunch or before and after school.
Karycki would like to take this suggestion a step farther and see an entirely separate room built, enclosed in glass, that could house 25 computers.
The study said there should also be an increased number of Internet-accessible computers put in and a computerized card catalog system should be installed.
"What you are looking at now," Karycki said, "is going to be a dinosaur, if not already, in many schools — the cabinet card catalog."
"We really need to move into the 21st century on this one as soon as possible. Information is changing so fast that we need to have unlimited access to that information. This means having facilities capable of providing students and teachers with that information."
Next, the study team found that the graphic arts lab was not large enough to accommodate the programs being offered. Presently there are six periods a day being taught there. It is also used for offset printing which handles much of the district’s printing jobs.
There is, according to the study, adequate space in that area to reconfigure the graphic arts program, drafting lab, and media technology program so that they become unified.
The area housing auto technology and electronics classes is too small for the number of students on the waiting list who wish to take the classes, the study said.
The group recommended adding an additional "work bay" and expanding the existing class area by one half to a full classroom/lab space.
The extra space would not only better serve the high school students but could also be used on a tuition-fee basis by other high schools in the county.
This could also expand the district’s existing adult/community program, serving as a training center for new employees of local auto shops.
"We knew that this ‘lack of space’ issue would be a common one addressed in this study over and over again," Karycki said.
The Helfgott group’s report also suggested that the board offices be relocated from their present space in the high school to create a minimum of four regular-size classrooms or else smaller group instruction and regular classroom spaces are needed.
The primary reasoning behind this is so that Spotswood High School may better prepare itself for additional course requirements to be dictated by the New Jersey Department of Education in the Core Curriculum Standards to be met by all public schools.
In addition to the Department of Education’s course requirements, it is anticipated that by the 2001-02 school year, public school districts will be required to provide preschool education programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
According to Spotswood Superintendent of Schools Anthony Vaz, "this could mean an additional 300 preschool-age students attending our district within the next two years. Thus, construction of an entirely separate facility may be warranted to accommodate these numbers."
Still, before the school board can move ahead to prepare for this projected increase, it is necessary that they first look at the current student population numbers.
In order to plan a course of action with regard to these findings, members of the school board, headed by Vaz, instituted a Facilities Strategic Planning Committee.
The committee has already taken serious steps toward making things happen, starting with the organization of school tours, which were announced at the June 5 Board of Education meeting.
At that time Vaz assured those in attendance that no decisions had yet been made with regard to the proposed next steps. Instead, he let them know that their opinions mattered and would be considered before plans moved forward.
The next meeting of the Facilities Strategic Planning Committee will be Wednesday, June 21. At that time, those who attend will be placed into small groups to voice their opinions before the school board and superintendent.