Board announces plan to move 309 students in kindergarten through fifth grade next year.
By: Melissa Hayes
The district is considering a redistricting plan that could mean more than 300 students will have to attend different schools next year.
The school board proposed a plan Monday that calls for the redistricting of 309 students in kindergarten through fifth grade next year, and 474 K-5 students the following year. Board members said the changes are designed to deal with construction at Cambridge School, including the demolition of a classroom annex, and Monmouth Junction School, as well as growing enrollment in specific areas of town.
The moves will remain in place until the need arises for another redistricting, said Superintendent Gary McCartney. He said redistricting usually takes place every five years or so in a growing township like South Brunswick.
Dr. McCartney said the number of students being moved includes kindergarten students who have yet to attend a district school. Of the 309 students being moved, approximately 60 of them will be in kindergarten. Of the 474 being moved in 2006, 83 are expected to be in kindergarten.
Under the proposal, a projected 139 students living in the Royal Oaks community will be moved from Greenbrook School to Brunswick Acres School next year. Those students had attended Brunswick Acres until 2002, when redistricting moved them to Greenbrook. These students would not be moved in 2006.
Approximately 31 students living in the area of Deans and Deans Pond lanes and 34 living in Monmouth Mobile Home would be moved from Brooks Crossing to Greenbrook in 2005 and would remain there in 2006.
A projected 105 students living in South Ridge Woods North would move from Monmouth Junction to Greenbrook.
In 2006, a projected 83 students living in Kingston and Kingston Terrace would be moved from Monmouth Junction School to Cambridge School.
Nine students living in Woodhaven would be moved from Constable to Cambridge, while 97 students living in Whispering Woods and 60 from Princeton Gate would be moved from Cambridge to Constable.
In 2006, 115 students living in The Grande and Reserve developments in Monmouth Junction would be moved from Indian Fields to Monmouth Junction and 110 students living in Arrowwood, Wynwood and Foxtail would be moved from Brooks Crossing to Constable.
A typographical error on the district’s Web site led some Raymond Road residents to believe that their children would move from Cambridge School to Brunswick Acres School in 2006. That however is not the case. Those students will stay at Cambridge.
Under both plans, fifth-graders will have the option of staying in their current schools, said Dr. McCartney. However, that offer does not extend to siblings not in fifth grade.
Dr. McCartney said Monday that the redistricting is needed because of increased enrollment and development in the community.
He said there are high concentrations of families in some areas bringing many schools to capacity while other buildings are less crowded. He said there were 5,042 students in the district in 1994, compared with the more than 8,800 expected in September.
"If the question in your mind is why do we need to talk about realignment, I have 3,700 reasons. We have an inordinate growth in South Brunswick," he said.
The district’s ongoing construction is part of a $46.32 million referendum approved in December 2003 that will mean 600 additional classroom seats throughout the district.
Phase I of the construction, which is scheduled to be completed by September, includes a new wing at Greenbrook with eight classrooms, music and art rooms, a new gymnasium with a permanent built-in stage, new cafeteria and kitchen facilities, restrooms, storage and nurse’s office.
Renovations to the existing building include plans to alter three classrooms, four small group instruction rooms, a kindergarten classroom, faculty room, main office, principal’s office and counseling offices. The open space area in the middle of the school, called the pit, will become the library.
A Brunswick Acres, there will be eight additional classrooms and a permanent built-in stage.
Improvements at Brunswick Acres include construction of eight classrooms and renovations to 13 classrooms three classrooms used for autistic student instruction, three small group instruction rooms, two basic skills classrooms, the library, cafeteria and storage areas. The open space classroom areas will become classrooms with floor-to-ceiling walls.
Phase II of the construction, expected to be completed by September 2006, includes work at Constable, Cambridge, Monmouth Junction and Crossroads North.
At Cambridge, a detached classroom annex will be demolished this summer, with students that normally attended class there moving to Constable. Construction at the school includes a six classroom addition and two kindergarten rooms, a small group instruction room, music and art rooms, a permanent built-in stage, restrooms and new storage facilities.
Compounding space problems is that Brooks Crossing and Indian Fields are expected to surpass their capacity in September, while Monmouth Junction and Cambridge will reach capacity even with the additional classrooms in 2006, said Dr. McCartney.
Once the construction is completed, there will be 195 seats available at Brunswick Acres and 219 at Greenbrook.
"It wouldn’t make any sense to create those seats and leave them vacant," Dr. McCartney said.
To help with the redistricting plan, the district hired Ross Haber, a retired high school principal from New York who created software that allows school districts to map the community’s growth, trace movement in the community and get an ethnic and socioeconomic breakdown of the township.
Dr. McCartney, Jeff Scott, assistant superintendent for business, and Mr. Haber worked together to move the smallest group of students possible, while keeping in mind transportation needs, Dr. McCartney said.
Dr. McCartney said the plan was created as objectively as possible. He said that if parents have any problems with the proposed realignment they should contact his office, not the school principals.
Board President Brian Laurita said growth in the township has been expected, and that redistricting was planned to coincide with the construction projects.
"This is not something that suddenly struck the district. This is a plan that has been in the works and has come to fruition or will come to fruition in September," he said.
The redistricting proposal is available on the district’s Web site, www.sbschools.org. The board expects to vote on the plan Monday. Mr. Laurita said there will be time for public comment on the plan before the vote.

