By Christine Barcia
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD – A plan that will address pupil overcrowding in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District beginning in September has been adopted by the Board of Education.
“Growing from the district’s strategic plan and modified to our current situation, the board has taken action to approve a modified realignment plan and to authorize the balancing of elementary class sizes starting with the next school year,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said.
A modified realignment plan was set forth in a resolution that was passed at the Feb. 8 board meeting
“In sum, the board voted to consolidate all fifth grade (pupils) at the Park Avenue Elementary School and all prekindergarten pupils at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school (or under Freehold Learning Center control) starting with the 2016-17 school year. Grades kindergarten through four would remain in neighborhood configuration under each (elementary) school,” Tomazic said.
A resolution addressing ad hoc adjustments to the elementary school assignment plan was also passed by the board.
“Secondly, the board authorized the administration to force balance the elementary schools if a sufficient number of volunteers were not found to make the necessary adjustments. This step is needed because there will be too many students at Park Avenue vs. the Freehold Learning Center. About 25 students in the rising third grade and rising fourth grade would be affected,” Tomazic said.
The board’s passage of the realignment resolutions will enable administrators “to begin the detailed schedule planning and communication to our school community for next year that is needed to efficiently fit our increasing number of students into our current facilities,” Tomazic said.
Freehold Borough’s plan to continue using classroom space in the neighboring Freehold Township K-8 School District during the 2016-17 school year has not been finalized, Tomazic said.
He said Freehold Borough administrators are “hoping (to rent) the same nine classrooms we have now, serving … prekindergarten and kindergarten students, as currently configured. Any possibility to expand further, there or elsewhere, is completely dependent on the amount of state aid we receive.”
Freehold Borough administrators are awaiting a decision regarding the district’s plan to build new facilities. The decision is currently in the hands of New Jersey Education Commissioner David C. Hespe.
“We continue to wait for the commissioner to make a final ruling on authorizing bonds for new construction,” Tomazic said.
Voters have twice rejected a referendum that proposed a construction package exceeding $32 million. After the second rejection, district administrators took the next step available to them to get the work done: appealing to the state to override the voters’ rejection of the two referendums. Voters rejected a plan that would have added about $280 to their annual school property tax bill.