BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The Student Attendance Area Advisory Committee (SAAAC) will be making a public presentation at the Board of Education’s Sept. 23 and Oct. 28 meetings in the Barkalow Middle School, Stillwells Corner Road, at 8 p.m. The purpose of the presentations will be to share information about redistricting with the community and to solicit input from the public.
Superintendent of Schools Catherine Snyder and Business Administrator Sean Boyce both stressed that no decisions have been made about transferring students from one school to another.
With the new West Freehold School expected to open in September 2004, and additions to existing schools expected to come on line even sooner, the board commissioned the SAAAC last fall to review school attendance areas and develop redistricting recommendations. The committee completed its review late last winter after five months of reviewing all of the relevant data.
The SAAAC, of which Boyce was the chair, is made up of 25 people from a broad spectrum of the community, including board members, parents and school principals.
"They spent five months pouring through the data and geographic information to come up with some recommendations," Snyder explained, adding, "It was a very thoughtful process."
The K-8 school district’s construction program is well under way at the various schools, including the new elementary school at Route 537 and Wemrock Road.
The referendum approved by voters in December 2001 provides for additions and renovations at existing district schools, a new elementary school and various long-term maintenance projects such as roofs and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.
One of the significant factors in developing the referendum was the residential growth Freehold Township is experiencing, and the resulting increase in enrollment at the schools.
District officials have previously said that pupils who presently attend other elementary schools will be transferred to the new West Freehold School to help balance enrollment in the elementary schools. The present West Freehold School, Stillwells Corner Road, has a current enrollment of 250 pupils, which is the smallest in the district.
"Next year (2004-05), all of the schools will have the same number of students," Snyder said.