A new middle school is proposed to ease the burden of overcrowding in Millstone Township schools.
By: Sarah Winkelman
MILLSTONE Cramped hallways, kids eating on the stage and buses causing traffic congestion are just a few of the overcrowding problems plaguing the township’s elementary and middle schools.
The problems will continue to get worse, according to Superintendent William Setaro. In an effort to ease the burden, officials have proposed a $31 million referendum to build a new middle school. Residents will vote on the referendum March 9.
"The reality is that we need a place to put our kids," he said. "We need a new facility. There is no question about that."
In addition, new state guidelines as part of the Educational Facilities Construction and Finance Act of 2000 regulate the building capacities of schools. For an elementary school the maximum capacity went from 800 to 632 students. At the middle school level, the capacity decreased from 650 to 364 students.
That means that Millstone, which has one elementary school and one middle school, can have a total of 1,098 students occupying its schools. Enrollment is currently 1,767 students. By 2008, there will be 1,826 students attending Millstone schools.
"We were overcrowded before the capacities decreased but we are really overcrowded based on the new standards," Dr. Setaro said.
As part of the EFCFA, school districts must provide the state with a building plan to alleviate overcrowding. Dr. Setaro said the state will provide funding for construction projects.
Until a building referendum passes, the district has dealt with the overcrowded schools by installing trailers at the schools. Currently there are six trailers at the middle school and three at the elementary school. The board also has budgeted for two more trailers to be installed at the elementary school for the 2004-2005 school year.
However, the trailers are not ideal learning environments, according to Dr. Setaro.
"In the trailers the desks are on top of each other and kids have to climb over one another in order to get to their seats," he said. "This is not a good learning environment."
The trailers used for kindergarten classes aren’t much better, although they are not as encumbered by desks, he said.
"The kids might be small but they still don’t have anywhere to sit for reading or other activities," he said. "They have to sit at their tables or practically on top of each other."
Other problems include seating for lunches and crowded, narrow hallways that are causing congestion and making it difficult for students to get to class on time.
"We’ve developed something at the middle school we like to call mezzanine dining," Dr. Setaro said. "Basically the kids have nowhere to sit so we’ve put tables on the stage for them. We are filled to the gills at each lunch period. And the hallways, forget it. They are way too narrow for the number of students we have in the building."
Part of the March 9 building referendum includes reconfiguring and expanding the bus loop where students are picked up and dropped off. The current situation is a sea of buses with students darting between them trying to find the one that will take them home.
"We’ve tried to put it in some semblance of order by placing the buses in a horseshoe pattern but the kids still have to put themselves in danger by running around the area," Dr. Setaro said. "We need head-in parking so the buses never have to back up."
The design of the proposed new middle school includes a pinwheel shape to the layout, allowing for further expansion without disruption to the students or teachers.
"As our enrollment increases we will need to expand again," Dr. Setaro said. "With this pinwheel design we can add four rooms easily onto the end of the building. All the construction will take place outside, which means I don’t have to shut down a wing of the school while this takes place."
While the March 9 referendum is not ideal for Dr. Setaro, he said the proposed plan would hold the district for at least a few years.
"The original $39.9 million referendum was, in my mind and the school board’s mind, the perfect plan," he said. "It allowed for growth. But, we listened to the community and cut some things out. We still think the original one was the way to go, but we will not move into the new building and be at capacity, which was our goal from the beginning."