By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Add Chinese courses?
Go full speed ahead with technology?
How fast should the staff be rebuilt?
Is more money needed for facilities?
Discussion at Monday’s school board triggered exchanges of philosophy — and differences of priorities — among board members as the $106-million-plus budget speeds to near-final shape this week.
Administrators and the operations committee will closet Saturday to make final cuts. On Monday, the full board will vote on adopting a budget.
The full-court press was kicked off Tuesday by Gov. Christie when he said in his state budget address that aid to schools would go up a bit under his plan. The school should get a dollar figure on how much to expect by today.
As indicated Monday night, the Hillsborough budget, three-fourths of which is paid for by local property taxes, is likely to see continued reliance on technology and emphasis on staff training needed to use it well.
This year, tablet computers were given to all staffers, who were trained how to use them in organization, communicating with parents, giving lessons to students and in the classroom as a teaching tool.
The district also started pilot programs in which tablet computers were given to what amounts to about 10 percent of students across all grades. The plan is to expand that project to 20 percent of the student body in the next school year.
Board member Jennifer Haley said the school’s use of technology was something of which the district could be proud. The teachers’ embrace of it “showed a lot of courage and the values of our district,” she said.
Member Christopher Pulsifer urged staying the course.
”If it’s not followed through, it’s going to fall flat,” he said.
Colleague Greg Gillette was little cautious, saying he didn’t know of any study that showed technology to be the end-all to learning. He said technology was worthwhile to continue as long as the expense could be managed.
Board member Judith Haas said she was concerned about an absolute reliance on technology.
”My concern now is what happens to these kids when they don’t have technology,” she said. “The school lets kids use calculators on tests, and on the SAT they do not. They have to be equally prepared when they don’t have technology at their fingertips.”
Member Deena Centofanti said she thought parents were thrilled with the one-to-one computer tablet program with parents seeing their youngsters learning more independently and with more success. She said the board would be “very sorry” if it didn’t keep the positive feedback in mind.
Mr. Gillette expressed concerns about wholly embracing Chinese as a world language offering. Chinese was such a specialized language, he said, that parents who wanted their children to learn it would find ways to do it on their own.
He said American culture was more derived from European languages and was wary of Chinese pushing out a European language.
Board President Thomas Kinst said kids needed to be prepared, and the board needed to acknowledge the world is a different than five or 10 years ago. He supported expanding Chinese language education because he saw how much American business will rely on China as a market as much as a source of goods.
The district is likely to add two teachers of Chinese — one for a high school offering for the first time and the other for fifth grade as elementary school pupils move into the intermediate school.
Member Lorraine Soisson wanted the district to think about revising its high school math curriculum. She said she had heard comments Hillsborough schools did a good job providing for the top and bottom 10 percents of students, but ought to find ways to support the middle 75 percent.
Her view was supported by Jake Cohen, the high school student ex-officio board member. He said he dropped out of honors math as a junior, only to find the college-level course too easy. There needed to be a higher mid-range level, he said.
Member Thuy Anh Le argued for timely intervention, particularly in math at the moment, before kids started to fall behind in high school.
The district has a facilities improvement list in priority order and a capital reserve account of $1.5 million, said Superintendent Jorden Schiff. The district plans to fund up to $750,000 for high priority items this year.
Dr. Soisson said she had traveled for her daughter’s swim meets, and, when it came to facilities, “there are a lot of amazing high schools out there, and Hillsborough does not count among them,” she said.
Ms. Haley said she thought there ought to be a cautious approach to bank some of the money in capital planning. Ms. Le said she thought the district often was reactive on facilities work. Ms. Haas said the capital budget cannot be the last priority annually, getting only what money was left over.
In his Human Resources Committee report, Mr. Pulsifier said school administrators had issued a “must-have” list of adding five technology positions, four in special education and two teachers of Chinese.
Other high-priority positions recommended included a substance abuse counselor at the high school, an elementary school guidance counselor and five high school math teachers.
Mr. Pulsifer reminded the board that the board cut 66 staff jobs two years ago, and every year the district should get some back, he said.
”We’re making progress,” he said.
Others said positions should be evaluated to see if it makes sense to bring back jobs unchanged. Mr. Gillette said he once thought it would take 10 years to get back to the 2010 level, but hirings have picked up.
”I’m concerned we’re adding staff members too quickly every year,” he said.
He said the district projection that it could use six-figure budget relief from last year’s curriculum writing expenses could be dangerous. He advocated a “slow and steady approach” on staff, in a smart way if not exactly the same manner.
Ms. Haas said she still favored a reasonable class size and thought it was important to have an affordable, responsible budget.
Her final point was for more communication.
”Let’s let the public know what’s going on,” she said. “The falloff in parents’ information when a child graduates is incredible.”

