Breaking News: Change in school structure proposed
Manalapan-Englishtown superintendent seeks feedback from public
ENGLISHTOWN — A change in the structure of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District is being proposed and input from the public is being sought.
In an April 24 letter to parents that was posted on the district’s Internet Web site, Superintendent of Schools John J. Marciante Jr. announced that he is recommending a change that would become effective in September 2009. Under Marciante’s proposal, the John I. Dawes Early Learning Center would continue to house all of the district’s kindergarten and preschool disabled pupils.
The Clark Mills, Lafayette Mills, Milford Brook, Taylor Mills andWemrock Brook schools would house pupils in grades one through five.
The Pine Brook School would house all of the district’s sixth grade pupils.
The Manalapan Englishtown Middle School would continue to house all of the district’s seventh and eighth grade pupils.
At the present time, the Clark Mills, Milford Brook and Taylor Mills schools
house pupils in grades one through three, and the Lafayette Mills, Wemrock Brook and Pine Brook schools house pupils in grades four through six.
In his letter to parents, Marciante said, “While this plan was initially suggested to address significant budget concerns, there are also academic benefits.
The development of neighborhood elementary schools will allow us to ensure greater continuity in the elementary program. The ‘Sixth Grade Center’ will also allow the district to implement an integrated sixth grade program that will further prepare our students for the middle school program.”
A series of public meetings has been set up to allow all stakeholders in the Manalapan-Englishtown community a chance to be involved in this process. Parent meetings will be held in the auditorium of the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School, Millhurst Road, Manalapan, on May 8, May 21 and June 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Marciante went on to say in his letter, “The new state (school) funding formula and the recently passed legislation that restricts the amount of taxes to be raised, allows school districts to anticipate future revenue and develop prospective budgets two to three years in advance. Based on available information, we are anticipating a budget reduction of slightly over $1 million for the 2009-10 academic year. A substantial budget reduction is also expected for the 2010-2011
academic year.”
In an interview, Marciante said, “the rules regarding school budgets have significantly changed. The state Legislature has gotten control of school budgets. I will be dealing with a financial issue every year.”
Marciante said teachers will not be let go in the restructuring of the schools. Instead, positions will be cut through attrition (i.e. retirements).
He said in his letter, “Overall, this new alignment will allow us to address the entire $1 million amount without negatively impacting educational programs. It will create five ‘neighborhood schools’ and a separate ‘Sixth Grade Center’ at the Pine Brook School.
“With the implementation of a flexible block schedule similar to the middle school, we will be able to consolidate approximately six teaching positions. An additional three teaching positions will be eliminated from MEMS due to a decrease in enrollment. It should be noted that with the expecte increases in fuel costs, shorter bus routes (in terms of time and distance) will also promote significant savings,” he said.
The district’s enrollment presently stands at 5,513 pupils. The superintendent said enrollment is expected to remain essentially flat for the 2008-09 school year.

