Holmdel group studying school expansion options Ad hoc panel looking at new school, or expanding Indian Hill or Satz

Staff Writer

By cindy tietjen

Holmdel group studying
school expansion options
Ad hoc panel looking at
new school, or expanding Indian Hill or Satz

HOLMDEL — The ad hoc advisory committee on school growth is exploring two main avenues, building a new school or expanding existing ones.

The district has four schools, the grades K-2 Village School on McCampbell Road, the grades 3-6 Indian Hill School on Holmdel Road, north of the Garden State Parkway, and the grades 7-8 William R. Satz School and adjacent high school on Crawfords Corner-Everett Road.

The proposals include building a new middle school, building a new elementary school, or expanding either Indian Hill School or the Satz School.

The district only recently completed a major expansion of Indian Hill, but because school enrollment is at an all time high, it may be forced to expand further.

Recently, the board appointed a 20-member ad hoc committee whose purpose is to explore ideas on how to handle the large number of students and come up with a recommendation by early December.

Schools Superintendent Dr. Leigh Byron and board President Arthur Frank are non-voting members of the committee.

"We are hoping that the recommendations we receive will help guide us through our long-range facility plan," said Frank.

The long-range plan must be submitted to the state by Dec. 15 in order for the district to qualify for some of the $2.5 billion in school construction funding approved this summer for regular school districts.

At the first meeting last week, the ad hoc group was divided into two subcommittees, according to Frank.

The first group will study plans for building a new middle school or a new elementary school. The second committee will study plans to add on to existing schools.

Frank added that although enrollment is at an all-time high, the district is not considering building two new facilities.

The board offered five scenarios for the groups to ponder, according to Frank.

The new school committee will study the following proposals:

• the construction of a new middle school. The new building would accommodate 1,000 students in grades 6-8. The grades 7-8 William R. Satz Intermediate School would become part of the adjacent high school and also house administrative offices, and the grades 3-6 Indian Hill School would be converted into a grades 3-5 school.

• the construction of a new middle school that would only house 700 students in grades 6-7. The Satz School and high school complex would serve as a single area for grades 8-12 and the administrative offices, and Indian Hill would accommodate grades 3-5.

• Construction of a new elementary school with a capacity of 700 for third- and fourth-grade students. The Satz and high school complex would become a single school for grades 8-12 with administrative offices, and Indian Hill School would be converted into a middle school for students in grades 5-7.

The second subcommittee will look at the following suggestions to handle growth through expansion of current facilities:

• a substantial addition to the Satz School to accommodate 1,000 students, including sixth-graders, and making Indian Hill a grades 3-5 school.

• expand Indian Hill to a 1,350-student facility and keep the present grade levels in all four schools intact.

Although the meetings of the subcommittees are not open to the public, the full committee’s meetings are. The committee planned to meet at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Satz School library.