Board and Hopewell Grant to work together
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
The Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education and residents of the Hopewell Grant development in southeastern Hopewell Township agreed at Monday night’s board meeting that they will work together to try to increase voluntary redistricting.
About 50 parents of Hopewell Grant students who attend Stony Brook Elementary came to the board meeting due to their concern over a recent recommendation to the board that Hopewell Grant students be moved to Bear Tavern Elementary.
The recommendation, which the school board is not required to follow, was made by the Future Planning Committee (FPC). The task of that committee, formed months ago, was to make recommendations on how to deal with the school district’s declining enrollment.
The committee was made up of school officials and residents from throughout the Hopewell Valley district. The FPC said moving the Hopewell Grant students would bring the number of students in the district’s four elementary schools into close proximity.
At Monday’s meeting, Superintendent Thomas Smith and board President Lisa Wolff reiterated Ms. Wolff’s statement, made in a recent email to Hopewell Grant parents, that the board is not actively considering the redistricting at this time.
"The school board is under no obligation to follow the recommendations" of the FPC, Dr. Smith said. "We are early on in this process. We have not even begun to review the recommendations. That will take place over the next few months. The board will take feedback from the community under advisement."
Ms. Wolff added: "When we look at the recommendations, we’ll take a holistic approach. We can’t look at redistricting without accounting for the effect of magnet programs."
Magnet programs draw students to schools other than the school they would normally attend. Contacted Tuesday, Ms. Wolff noted that the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program at Bear Tavern is attended by seven students who otherwise would have attended Stony Brook Elementary, six from Hopewell Elementary, three from Toll Gate Grammar plus four Choice students, who live outside the Hopewell Valley district but attend school here.
"The STEM program at Bear Tavern is just fourth-graders this year," Ms. Wolff said. "Next year, it will be fifth grade as well."
Ms. Wolff said she was "encouraged by the Hopewell Grant parents asking us if they could help encourage voluntary redistricting."
She added that she was disappointed that the state Department of Education recently told Hopewell Valley that it will get no new Choice students next year.
Hopewell Valley currently has four Choice students. Michelle Hill, a Ewing resident and parent of two of those Choice students, said they "are very happy and have been very welcomed" at Central High School.
DURING the public hearing portion of Monday night’s meeting, many Hopewell Grant parents said they were opposed to having their children moved to Bear Tavern, which is several miles away from their neighborhood and on the other side of busy Route 31. Stony Brook is much closer to Hopewell Grant than Bear Tavern.
"Do you think they’ll get a better education and have a shorter commute" if the Hopewell Grant children are redistricted, one man asked the board rhetorically. He added that he feared the bus ride to Bear Tavern would increase the likelihood of his child being in a motor vehicle accident that could cause injuries.
Another man from Hopewell Grant said he would have to wake his child an hour earlier in the morning if the child was moved to Bear Tavern. Another parent said he feared his property values would go down if his neighborhood sent its students to Bear Tavern while all surrounding neighborhoods still went to nearby Stony Brook.
Located in the densely populated southeastern section of Hopewell Township, Hopewell Grant is closely bordered by several developments, including Brandon Farms and Wellington Manor.
Many other residents voiced similar objections to the prospect of redistricting their children.
The FPC report noted that, of the district’s four elementary schools, Bear Tavern Elementary has the most available space by far and that this trend is expected to continue. That school’s enrollment is down nearly 200 students from its 2008-09 total of 550 students and is expected to further decline to about 295 students by 2018-19.
The FPC recommended switching 65 current kindergarten through third-grade students from Stony Brook Elementary to Bear Tavern. Those students all live in the Hopewell Grant development. Fourth-graders would have the option of staying at Stony Brook for their final year of elementary school.
"It would go up to about 90 students after the first year. It would be 65 in the first year," due to fourth-graders having the option to stay for one more year during the first year the redistricting would take place, said John Johann of the FPC.
Mr. Johann said the FPC had hoped to avoid a recommendation to redistrict. Feeling constrained to do so, however, the committee "felt the best course would be to include one housing community rather than draw a line on a map," Mr. Johann said.
"Hopewell Grant seemed the most logical possibility. It would better balance our schools."
The FPC says that, if this redistricting plan were carried out, both Bear Tavern and Stony Brook would be at 70 percent capacity in terms of student enrollment. Toll Gate Grammar and Hopewell Elementary would be at 79 and 72 percent, respectively.