District sets goals for new school year

Passing a new budget, opening new school on 2006-07 schedule

BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE – The Board of Education unanimously approved district goals for the 2006-07 school year at its Aug. 28 meeting.

Among the goals the board set are passing a new budget, planning a smooth transition into the new middle school once it opens and developing better relations with the Upper Freehold Regional School District, which has a send-receive student relationship with Millstone.

The first goal the board hopes to accomplish in the new school year is passing a new budget in April. The school district’s previous two proposed budgets failed with voters and were therefore cut when they went under review by the Township Committee.

In order to gain public support for its proposed spending plan this year, the board aims to develop an “efficient” and “defensible” budget that the entire board can support, according to its 2006-07 goals. It also aims to hold meetings with the Township Committee to review the budget and create a timeline for promoting the spending plan.

Since this year will see the opening of the new middle school on Baird Road, the board has also set goals relevant to that issue. It will have to create new grade configurations for all its school buildings and a new transportation plan while keeping the public informed of all changes, according to its 2006-07 goals. The district plans to schedule meetings in order to determine school day and transportation schedules.

Providing its staff with support and addressing staff concerns are also major objectives for the board once the transition into the new school building begins. The board will develop a committee of staff members to provide input on these matters, according to its 2006-07 goals.

The board further aims to prepare a schedule with room assignments for all buildings by January. A complete staff list for each building should be finalized by February, and all necessary furniture should be in each school by the end of July, according to its 2006-07 goals.

Since the district does not have its own high school and sends its high school-aged students to Allentown High School, which is in the Upper Freehold Regional School District, the board has set a goal as well to develop purposeful relationships with the regional school board and other community members in that school district.

By June, the board hopes to hold three meetings for the purpose of articulating its curriculum and developing a five-year strategic plan.

The final goal the board set for the new school year is to continue its trend in student achievement. To this end, the board plans to provide additional professional development for all district staff along with curriculum mapping and program development.

The staff will have continuing instruction in everyday math, guided reading, impact math and algebra, and differentiated instruction. Content area specialists will evaluate the aforementioned areas of instruction to determine whether expansion of these programs would be beneficial. Similarly, the district will analyze its existing science curriculum using mapping software as a tool of assessment, according to the 2006-07 goals.

Board member Laura Dreifus said she is impressed with the detail in the board’s report on district goals for the new school year.

Board member Kathy Winecoff said, “I was glad to see the board expanded the goals set in previous years.”

Winecoff said she did not attend the meetings when the goals were set because they conflicted with interviews for a new superintendent for the Upper Freehold Regional School District. She represents Millstone on the regional Board of Education.

Superintendent Mary Anne Donahue said the district develops new goals and objectives each year at its board and administrator retreat held in July.

At the retreat, according to Donahue, board members work together to develop “action plans,” which provide outlines for how objectives will be met. The administrative team also meets and develops plans for meeting the same district goals, which the full board then reviews for approval, she said.

Donahue said the district will report on the process of attaining the set goals throughout the school year. She said the first update will take place at the Oct. 9 Board of Education meeting.