FREEHOLD – The completion of a construction project in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District means virtually all elementary school and middle school children who live in town will attend school in the borough as of September.
While facing overcrowded conditions in the borough’s schools for several years, district administrators have rented classroom space in the neighboring Freehold Township K-8 School District.
With that arrangement in place, some of Freehold Borough’s youngest pupils have attended school in Freehold Township, with instruction provided by teachers employed by Freehold Borough.
Beginning in September, the borough’s pre-kindergarten pupils who are attending school in Freehold Township in 2018-19 will attend kindergarten in Freehold Borough.
Freehold Borough youngsters who will enter pre-kindergarten in September will do so in Freehold Borough, according to district administrators.
Until 2018, the district’s two facilities, the Park Avenue Complex – which houses the Park Avenue Elementary School and the Freehold Intermediate School – and the Freehold Learning Center elementary school, had classroom space for about 1,150 students, as enrollment reached about 1,680 students.
As a result, about 100 pupils per year attended school in Freehold Township and were taught by Freehold Borough teachers. District administrators said the arrangement will end with the conclusion of the 2018-19 school year.
In 2018, Freehold Borough began a construction project to expand and renovate its buildings. The project has been completed and has increased classroom space to 1,589 students.
“Freehold Borough has worked long and hard to ensure it can properly house all of its students in-district,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said. “We are pleased we can finally achieve this goal with the start of the 2019-20 school year.
“We are very appreciative of the administrators in Freehold Township for allowing us to rent spare classroom space and to the host school administrators and staff who watched over our students on a day-to-day basis like their own,” he said.
As of September, 15 pre-kindergarten pupils from Freehold Borough will continue to be educated by Head Start, a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at a church in the borough, according to district administrators.