Elementary students may be moved; class sizes to rise

To ease overcrowding at the Perry L. Drew School, some students who would attend that school may go to others.

By: Mark Moffa
   HIGHTSTOWN — Some elementary school students would be moved to different schools and many teachers would face larger class sizes next year, according to a proposal submitted to the school board Tuesday night by Business Administrator David Shafter.
   In the first of a series of budget presentations/recommendations to the board, Mr. Shafter outlined the 2003-04 budget for staffing kindergarten through fifth grade, administrative staffing, athletics, co-curricular activities and general supplies.
   The K-5 staffing situation presented a problem, Mr. Shafter said, because the Perry L. Drew School is expected to have 798 students in 2003-04, and the school should not hold more than 671. His recommendation to the board was aimed at remedying that problem.
   Mr. Shafter proposed moving most of the Ethel McKnight School students who attend Drew back to McKnight and redirecting students from the township’s Windsor Crossing section to the Walter C. Black School. Students from Windsor Crossing, near the new Home Depot on Route 33, currently are slated to go to Drew.
   The Windsor Crossing move would affect 31 current students and 29 prospective students, Mr. Shafter said, most of whom of are of Asian/Pacific Islander descent. The move would bring the number of prospective students down to 671. Projected enrollment at Black, Drew and the Grace Norton Rodgers Elementary School then would be below the district’s goal. McKnight’s expected enrollment would be 566, 16 students more than the goal of 550. Mr. Shafter said that school has the ability to handle those extra students.
   As far as staffing is concerned, Mr. Shafter’s recommendation would eliminate one elementary school teacher in the district. Two teaching staff members would be cut from Rodgers, but one would be added to Black. Districtwide, there would be 100 K-5 teachers, as opposed to today’s 101.
   With six grade levels (K-5) in four elementary schools, the district has 24 elementary sections. In Mr. Shafter’s recommendation, 16 of those 24 sections would see an increase in average class size. Districtwide, average class size would grow from 19.3 students per class to 20.5.
   Mr. Shafter presented another redistricting option, called Option 2, that would keep all 101 K-5 teaching staff members. That option also added a teacher to the Black school but did not trim any staff at Rodgers. Instead, a staff member would be cut from the McKnight school. Districtwide, average class size would be 20.3 students per class, only slightly less than the first option.
   The downside to Option 2, however, is that more students would have to be moved. In this plan, 23 students from the Shadowstone and Compton areas of the township along Old York Road would move from McKnight to Rodgers. The students would be mostly of white ethnic backgrounds.
   Mr. Shafter said he did not recommend Option 2 because he did not think the reduction in class size was enough to warrant displacing additional students.
   School board member Sheri Grunwerg said she was concerned about some of projected class sizes, the highest of which would be 24.0 students for the fourth grade at the McKnight school.
   "If in fact we do end up going over 25 or so," she said, "we would have to do something."
   Rodgers teacher Jan Amenhauser told the board she was concerned as well. She said federal guidelines stipulate that elementary class sizes should not exceed 18 students. She is particularly concerned about first-grade class sizes, she said.
   "First grade is important for learning reading," Ms. Amenhauser said.
   Projected class size for the first grades at Drew is 22.6 students in the recommended option. For Rodgers, Mr. Shafter said 21.8 students per first-grade class are expected. Ms. Amenhauser said she preferred the second option’s average first-grade class sizes for the Rodgers school — 19.4 students. But the second option leaves first-grade class sizes at 22.6 for Drew and has a higher projected size for first grade at McKnight — 20.5 as opposed to the first plan’s 18.4.
   East Windsor resident Lori DePino concurred, asking the board to keep first-grade class sizes as low as possible.
   School board President Bruce Ettman said Mr. Shafter and staff will try to work out a different plan with lower first-grade class sizes.
   Mr. Shafter’s presentation Tuesday also included the administrative staff budget, athletics, co-curricular activities and general supplies. There were few changes from last year in these categories — the district plans to maintain current programs and does not plan to create additional administrative staff positions.
   The proposed curriculum and instruction budget would see an increase of $36,340 over last year, due mainly to the planned purchase of science and language arts kits.
   The district does not expect to see an increase in state aid this year. The budget is only allowed to increase $2.93 million from last year, due to a state cap on budget increases. Last year, the budget was allowed to grow $3.93 million. If a district increases its budget more than the cap, it is required to add a separate question to the school budget election ballot for the excess amount.
   Mr. Shafter said the lower cap will further handcuff the financially strapped district. He said one factor in determining the cap is the district’s enrollment projections, and the cap is lower partly because the district is not predicting a large increase in 2003-04 from this year’s enrollment projections. The projections for this school year, 2002-03, were higher than the actual enrollment.
   The next budget presentation will be at the school board’s 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 meeting at the Rodgers school. The high school and middle school staffing budget will be discussed along with the transportation, testing, out of district placement, basic skills and bilingual budgets.