BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent
BRICK TOWNSHIP – The Board of Education recently commissioned two studies to help plan for the school district’s future.
Board members voted unanimously on June 25 to hire Educational Information & Resource Center (EIRC), a Sewell, New Jersey-based public agency specializing in education-related programs and services for parents, schools, communities, nonprofit organizations and privately held businesses throughout New Jersey.
EIRC will conduct a demographic study to project pre-kindergarten through grade 12 enrollments of the school district for a five-year period from September 2007 through June 2012, school officials said.
EIRC will review the following data for Brick Township: historical census populations; estimated future populations from the county planning board or other sources; selected demographic characteristics of residents (race, income, etc.); live birth data; mobility rates of students within each of the schools in the district; and number of residential building permits for new home construction issued in the last five years.
The study would also break out student yields at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
“There has been a lot of talk that enrollment is declining,” interim School Business Administrator Melindo A. Persi said. “Before we make any hard decisions about closing schools, we need to study our projected enrollment.”
The cost of the study is $6,500.
Board member Daniel Woska asked that Persi contact township officials to discuss sharing in the cost of the study.
“They should be doing a demographic study too as a township,” Woska said.
Woska said he’d also like to see EIRC waive the $650 fee it charges for a presentation of the study at a future board meeting.
EIRC will also conduct a collaborative strategic planning for the district, at a cost of $5,500.
The study will put together a plan for the district for the next few school years that will involve the community, the township, the board of education and the district staff.
“It puts down what it is we’re all working towards,” Persi said. “So we are all on the same page.”
The plan is to put together a mission and belief statement for the district; determine areas the district needs to work on; form committees; decide on a plan of action; implement the plan; and evaluate what has been accomplished the following year, he said.
EIRC will also consult with the district during the process; provide workshops for the community, staff and planning teams; conduct training of the district’s internal coordinator; and assist in the presentation of the strategic plan.
“It’s a continuous process aimed at improving overall communication,” Persi said.