School board leader: Support budget

Michael Reca, president, Robbinsville Board of Education
    Over the past several months, your Board of Education has been working diligently with the district administration to provide a comprehensive fiscal plan to meet the demands of a dynamic and growing school district. We believe that the proposed budget maintains the programs that we have striven to develop over the past several years while allowing for prudent increases to meet the demands of enrollments that have been growing far more quickly than originally anticipated by at least two different demographic surveys.
   Robbinsville High School will add one new teacher and increase five part-time teaching positions to full-time status. Pond Road Middle School will add two teachers as a result of their increased enrollment.
   Even with the additional staff at Robbinsville High School and the Pond Road Middle School, class sizes in both programs may exceed our guidelines in a number of core academic areas. Our guidelines exceed state averages at every grade level and we anticipate as many as 28 to 32 students in some of the high school classes.
   Sharon School will add one teacher and another modular unit. The new unit will provide two additional classrooms to accommodate an increased student enrollment. At this time, our K-8 cafeterias, libraries and gymnasiums are maximized and the continued use of modular units at the elementary level will overstress these core facilities.
   We ask that you take a few moments to review our budget information, visit our Web site, and contact us regarding any questions or concerns that you may have. Once again, according to the data printed in the most recent New Jersey School Report Card, Robbinsville is the lowest spending school district in Mercer County. We are also the lowest spending K-12 district in New Jersey based on our socio-economic grouping factor.
   We believe that together with the stakeholders in our community, we can make a positive difference in the education of our children and support the core values of our community.
   Please be an active participant in the democratic process. Vote on April 21!