Objectives include acquiring more land for South Brunswick High School, exploring ways to use renewable energy and creating a new education foundation to fund special projects.
By: Paul Koepp
The Board of Education laid out its goals Monday night for the upcoming year with an eye to the school district’s future.
Among the board’s objectives for the 2007-2008 school year are acquiring more land for South Brunswick High School, exploring ways to use renewable energy and creating a new education foundation to fund special projects.
The school district is looking at ways to work with the township government to obtain about 25 acres adjacent to the high school, according to Superintendent Gary McCartney.
"We’re interested in expanding beyond our current 80 acres to have more opportunities to have athletic fields," he said, adding that any new fields could be used by the community as well. "This is a one-time opportunity because if we do not procure this property, we will be landlocked and we’ll have no chance to expand."
Dr. McCartney also said the school board is investigating how other districts in the state have invested in renewable energy sources, including solar panels, as a way to reduce costs.
The district is looking at grants to help clear the "hurdles" of the initial capital outlay, he said. Dr. McCartney said the savings in energy expenses would have to recoup the startup costs in a reasonable period of time to make the project financially feasible.
Finding new sources of revenue also is behind the goal of starting a new education foundation, which would be a nonprofit organization that would raise money to be used in part for enhancing facilities and funding research projects by teachers.
The foundation could pay for things "the regular general fund is not able to provide for," Dr. McCartney said. He said the district’s spending is restricted by the revenue cap and the fund balance cap, and the education foundation would be an independent source of income.
"There are limited ways for us to do things we might like to do," he said.
Two previous foundations became defunct because the paperwork to maintain them was not done, Dr. McCartney said.
"We want to create it in a way that it can continue to operate," he said.
Dr. McCartney said he feels good about the district being goal-driven because it allows school administrators to focus their resources on specific issues.

