HOWELL – In an effort to dispel rumors about Howell High School being overcrowded, Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent of Schools James Wasser came before the Township Council last week to give elected officials a status report of the school’s enrollment and physical capacity to house its students.
Wasser was joined by Howell High School Principal Zina Duerbig and by Joan Leimbach, who is one of two representatives from Howell on the FRHSD Board of Education.
Wasser told officials that since he became superintendent in 1998 the district’s overall enrollment has grown from 8,100 students to just under 12,000 students. There are six high schools and eight sending municipalities in the FRHSD.
He acknowledged that Howell High School has experienced enrollment growth in that period. The present enrollment at the school is 2,310 students.
According to Wasser, there is enough room to accommodate all of the students.
“There is sufficient classroom space. There are students in regular size classrooms and they are accommodated appropriately. All of our students are in appropriate laboratory spaces, and there are available seats and empty tables within the lunchrooms,” the superintendent told members of the council.
Wasser said what may lead people to believe there is a problem at Howell are the conditions they have seen during the transition between classes.
“When the bell rings there is a fiveminute period between classes. During that time 2,300 students are traveling somewhere. That’s in every single high school throughout the state of New Jersey,” he said.
According to Wasser, shifting housing tides have impacted Howell.
“There has been a shift from the northern part of the district to the southern end. At one time Manalapan High School and Marlboro High School were each pushing 2,400 students. They are now down to about 2,200 students. When the housing stopped (in that area), people began moving farther south and bought homes in the Freehold Township and Howell area,”Wasser said. “That is where we saw the influx in enrollment. That is where we saw the imbalance.”
Wasser said that as of right now the district is in pretty good shape in terms of space. He said enrollment has leveled off at just under 12,000 total students. However, he cautioned that if the housing market turns around the shift could adversely affect the district.
“Right now the housing market went right down the tubes and things are slowing down. However, as of this moment Sean Boyce, our business administrator and board secretary, is talking with the Navy because of the Earle situation.”
In mentioning Naval Weapons Station Earle, Wasser was referring to recent reports that the U.S. Navy may consider opening up housing at the naval base in Colts Neck to the public. A debate exists as to what school district children who would live in that housing would attend. If the children were sent to Colts Neck public schools, they would become the responsibility of the FRHSD upon reaching high school age, the superintendent said.
The other possibility would be for children who live in public housing at the base to be assigned to Tinton Falls public schools, in which case they would attend Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls, and the FRHSD would not be impacted by that additional enrollment.
At present, children of military personnel who live in the Earle housing are educated in Tinton Falls, although the housing is physically within the municipality of Colts Neck.
If children in public housing at Earle become the responsibility of the FRHSD, “Colts Neck High School would be bursting at the seams again. It would impact the whole district, it would hurt Howell,” Wasser said.
Even though enrollment has leveled off at under 12,000 pupils, Wasser said Howell is still growing and he acknowledged there is a possibility the school could get a little tight for space.
Duerbig said some modifications have been made to help ease the congestion.
“We modified a stairwell (on one side of the building) to provide a different entrance for students. It was so simple and cost-effective that we are planning to do it to the other side,” she said. “In our Times Square area we designated an up and down staircase, which works. And we are going to add two classrooms to a space that already exists. My hope is for everyone to be in a traditional school setting next year.”
Wasser said administrators are keeping an eye on the situation in Howell. He said T&M Associates of Middletown will examine the district’s information and develop enrollment projections for the next four to five years.
“We will use their assessment to decide whether or not we need to make any changes to the 2009-10 and subsequent school years attendance area boundary lines,” he told the council.
Wasser noted that the school board has already voted not to make any changes to the attendance area boundary lines for the 2008-09 school year. Students from different areas of Howell are assigned to attend either Howell, Freehold Township or Colts Neck high school. All present attendance areas will remain in place for the time being, he said.
Students who live in Howell, as in all of the district’s seven other sending municipalities, may apply to attend learning centers and academies that are housed in all six FRHSD schools.
Finally, Wasser reiterated for Howell officials what he has recently said to elected officials in other communities.
“As of right now we do not need a seventh high school and we may not need one for the next several years. Based upon the demographic study and our enrollment being under 12,000, we have enough room to grow,” he told the council.