new schools will lead
to some pupil movement
Howell board begins task
of reassigning students
Construction of three
new schools will lead
to some pupil movement
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — The Board of Education has started a process that will redistrict students in the community’s elementary and middle schools.
Last week, a criteria committee that was formed in July presented a series of redistricting recommendations to the board. The committee’s mandate was to adopt criteria that will be used in deciding how boundaries will be set for three schools that are now under construction.
Howell’s K-8 district is building two new elementary schools — one on Route 524 in north Howell and one on Ramtown-Greenville Road in south Howell — and a new middle school on Route 524. The new middle school will be the district’s third, joining Howell Middle School North, Squankum-Yellowbrook Road, and Howell Middle School South, Ramtown-Greenville Road.
Parents attending an Oct. 2 board meeting received an outline of the committee’s recommendations so far.
Board President Ronald Sanasac said the committee faced a "monumental task" in developing criteria to be used for the assignment of pupils to the new buildings.
The board heard from several parents who spoke about hearing "rumors that lines had already been drawn."
Noting that, "We can’t do anything about rumors," Sanasac assured parents that the members of the criteria committee "did not start the process with any preconceived notions."
Sanasac and other board members affirmed that "neighborhood considerations were the top priority of all the members of the committee."
According to a written copy of the committee’s recommendations, the panel set to the task by reviewing enrollment figures, physical plant use and staff use reports, a report from the school’s transportation supervisor and other information. Com-mittee members also sought input from residents.
The committee’s final recommendations to the board included, "Maintain to the extent possible intact neighborhoods and contiguous streets while maximizing the opportunity for entire neighborhoods to attend the same middle school."
The report also stated the need to provide stability by developing a five-year plan that considers future housing construction.
Also listed as major discussion points were projected enrollment, special needs students and the "grandfathering" of students and siblings in certain schools.
Also stressed was the need to equalize student enrollment according to a building’s functional capacity and to maintain the existing board policy of capping allowable class size in each building while continuing to pursue the board’s strategic plan goal of a lower class size.
Finally, emphasis regarding transportation was put toward minimizing the time children spent on school buses by developing "efficient, cost-effective bus routes."
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Enid Golden told parents the redistricting plan will, at some point, allow for full-day kindergarten to be offered. Golden said administrators are looking at the possibility of extending the length of the kindergarten day beginning in September 2003.
A final report from the redistricting criteria committee is scheduled to be presented to the board in January.
In a separate matter, Sanasac said soil remediation for the removal of the pesticide Dieldrin would be completed this week at the Route 524 site where a new elementary school and a new middle school are being built.
"That situation has been almost abated. It is just about behind us," he said.