McKnight full, Rogers has many empty rooms
By Elaine Leahy, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN The East Windsor Regional school board is looking at possibly redistricting its Ethel McKnight and Grace N. Rogers elementary schools for the 2009-2010 school years because of soaring enrollment at McKnight.
In what Superintendent Ron Bolandi said was an unexpected move, three new teachers were recently hired for McKnight to accommodate the increase in students.
”Redistricting is the last thing we want to do,” he said, “but if enrollment at McKnight continues to spike, we must look into it.”
The superintendent reported at Monday’s Board of Education meeting that McKnight will reach full capacity this year, with 755 students, and every classroom in the school will be occupied. On the other hand, he said, Rogers has less than 475 students and 10 to 15 empty classrooms.
According to the superintendent, 95 percent of the district grade school classes have about 20 students, but McKnight’s have reached the mid-20s.
”It’s just not fair to the kids,” he said.
The superintendent and the board plan to evaluate the situation this October. They will examine enrollment numbers at the start of the school year, predict growth trends and then develop a plan.
”One way to address the problem is to hire additional teachers, which we have done,” said Mr. Bolandi.
Another possibility is to hold art and music classes “on a cart,” where teachers move to others’ classrooms to teach their subjects, rather than students coming to them in dedicated rooms.
”The last resort is to move a small group of students from McKnight to Rogers depending on proximity to the schools,” said the superintendent.
If redistricting is the course of action, once the school district develops a plan, it will communicate with parents and the community, Mr. Bolandi said.
The possibility of redistricting was discussed last year as well, but the district chose not to pursue it at that time.
In other business Monday, the board discussed a number of new policies and policy revisions.
Mr. Bolandi explained that New Jersey school districts undergo a performance review by the state Department of Education every three years as part of the Quality Single Accountability Continuum, and all policies must be current with state regulations at the time of the review. The state is expected to evaluate East Windsor Regional this upcoming school year.
Among the planned policy revisions is one related to public participation at board meetings that would eliminate provisions allowing the presiding board member to interrupt or cut off a public speaker whose comments are personal.
”We can’t defend against something said that’s derogatory?” asked board member Bonnie Fayer. “That doesn’t sound like an even playing field.”
The revision would allow for the presiding member to request an individual to leave who “does not observe public decorum.”
Before adopting the revisions, Mr. Bolandi plans to seek clarification on the language used and its meaning, at the request of Ms. Fayer and other members.
There’s also a new policy related to nepotism. It would prohibit a relative of a board member or administrator to be employed in the district except if they were employed already at the effective date of the policy or before a board member or administrator assumes his or her position. It also would ban school district officers or employees from supervising relatives.
The state mandates that districts must have this policy in place by Oct. 1, as a condition of receiving state aid, according to a district document.
Also, the “harassment, intimidation and bullying” policy, which was updated last year to include online bullying, could be further refined to include consequences for staff members and volunteers who are involved in such incidents.
These and other policies will be discussed further before board approval, which is expected next month.