board seeks to handle
increasing enrollments
Additions may be way K-8
district chooses to grow
Manalapan-Englishtown
board seeks to handle
increasing enrollments
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
It’s building time again in the K-8 Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District.
In attempting to address the large student enrollment and overall projected increase in student population, the Board of Education has selected an architect to move the district forward.
After interviewing nine architects, the board has selected David M. Pease, of Design Resources Group, one of the principals of the company that designed the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School (MEMS), to develop a plan for growth, according to board President James Mumolie.
"We went through a number of architects for designing any additions that we may need," said Mumolie. "David was overwhelmingly chosen."
A Blueprint for Planning was recently presented to the board and discusses four possible ways to proceed:
• Option A — Construct a new building or buildings. This option has constraints of time and available land.
• Option B — A combination of a new building and additions to existing buildings;
• Option C — Additions to existing buildings;
• Option D — Maintain the status quo.
It was noted in the report that demographic information from 1996 and on was reviewed. In addition, school district representatives met with James Dever-eaux, Manalapan’s business administra-tor, and Rich Cramer, Manalapan’s municipal planner, to discuss township construction requirements, anticipated permits and options.
A review of current district facilities was made, including physical and instructional capacities, and conclusions were drawn.
A report presented to the board concluded that MEMS, which houses all seventh- and eighth-graders in the district, is inadequate for current and future enrollments.
Information noted that at present, there are 1,386 students at MEMS. Some classes have as many as 34 students, and nine teachers are without classrooms and use carts to bring their materials from class to class. The auditorium houses communications and humanities classes. Two math classes meet in faculty rooms, and the periodical room presently houses special education classes. There are also classes held in the media center and dining room. There are five lunch periods, beginning at 9:58 a.m., and three of the lunch periods have to meet the needs of more than 300 students each.
According to the report, Devereaux and Cramer noted that options A and B would both require the acquisition of land with water and sewer capabilities. Both township representatives indicated a lack of available space since municipal officials have taken steps to place open space near existing schools under state Green Acres development restrictions.
The report also noted that, "In addition to academic classrooms, a new middle school would require an auditorium, cafeteria, specialty rooms based on the curriculum, i.e., technology education, and one or more of the following: gym, locker rooms, art, music and computer."
A new middle school would also require space for athletic fields so that pupils attending the new school would have the same opportunities as students attending MEMS. It was also noted that additional costs would also include duplication of sports and honorariums for extracurricular activities. According to the report, options A and B were deemed not to be feasible.
That brought school administrators to Option C, making additions to existing buildings. One possibility discussed was building additions to current fourth through sixth schools. This plan would include the conversion of an existing building into a middle school to give the district two sixth- through eighth-grade middle schools. Eight classrooms would have to added on to the Wemrock Brook School to accomplish this plan, according to the report.
Pros and cons discussed for this option include: Pro — Wemrock Brook, a new school, is near MEMS on Millhurst Road; Con — Wemrock Brook was designed as a K-5/6 building and the walls, etc., for six bathrooms would have to be removed; large and expensive specialty rooms would have to be constructed or lose the programs; additional athletic fields would be needed.
Also, Pine Brook School would need a facelift and renovations. Pro — the least expensive option, since Pine Brook was originally a middle school. Con — the building is old; large specialty rooms would have to be replaced; athletic fields would have to be constructed; A Lafayette Mills School addition would require 10 rooms. Pro — this plan would give the district a middle school on the east side of Route 9. Con — renovations would be expensive and extensive.
The report indicates that building an addition to MEMS may be the best course of action. Pro — all students will attend MEMS for seventh and eighth grades; better consistency of curriculum; facilities for electives already exist; fields exist. Con — a large school is not the ideal environment for young adults and it would more difficult for students to join teams or to participate in school plays.
"We were concerned about MEMS because of the wetlands" around the school, said Mumolie, "but each (architect) had the same idea that there was enough room to add a sufficient number of classrooms, a gym and a cafetorium."
In other school areas, current facilities for grades four through six were considered satisfactory for current and short range future enrollments. But, as a whole, some current facilities, Clark Mills School (701 students) and Milford Brook School (805 students), were deemed to be inadequate for current and future enrollment.
The report indicates that the instructional and physical capacity for Clark Mills was too small and the instructional capacity for Milford Brook was too small. Taylor Mills School (689 students) was considered to be adequate.
After discussion, board members determined that maintaining the status quo is not acceptable and that building a new elementary school will have time and land constraints. That leaves the prospect of adding on to the schools.
"One of the ways that we can relieve the pressure (on the K-4 grades) is to move the kindergarten classes out of the schools and have an early childhood center (add-on building)," Mumolie said. "That would go on to Clark Mills."
It was noted in the board report that an addition to Clark Mills School would be preferable.
A date to vote on the construction options has not been set and more input is being sought from residents, according to Superintendent of Schools Maureen Lally.
"Right now and through this and next month, we are bringing in groups from the community and getting an idea of whether this is what the community wants," Lally said.