The debate on how best to configure elementary schools could take another year.
By: Gwen Runkle
The long-standing debate in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District over how to best configure elementary schools to handle expected growth could take another year to be resolved, according to school board President Cheryl Larrier-Jemmott.
The board had previously hoped to make a decision by early fall, but at its meeting Tuesday it decided that enrollment, building capacity and cost numbers for both the kindergarten-through-third grade, fourth-and-fifth-grade system and K-5 system need to be determined before moving on.
"Without finalizing these numbers, we will be continually sidetracked," said board member Henry Weick. "We need to have the numbers presented fairly, completely and agreed upon by the board."
The board did come to an agreement on enrollment numbers but decided to form a committee of three board members and three administrators to review the elementary schools’ building capacities and come up with the cost of programming, in both the K-3, grade 4-5 and K-5 configurations.
"Clearly we can’t go onto the next step without agreement on enrollment, capacity and cost, but it won’t be a quick fix," said Ms. Jemmott, who estimated that with the committee in place, it could take another year to reach a decision on configuration.
But board members Dee Dee Dodson and Hemant Marathe said they felt it might not take that long, and stressed that what is more important than any timeline is that a K-5 configuration is finally going to be considered along with K-3, grade 4-5.
"We will be able to move on once we have everything fairly and honestly laid out side-by-side," Mr. Marathe said.
Ms. Jemmott and Superintendent John Fitzsimons are expected to select the members of the committee in the next few weeks. The committee will submit a progress report to the board in September, said district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner.
The controversy over elementary grade configuration began last October when the school board narrowly endorsed Superintendent Fitzsimon’s recommendation to keep the district’s current K-3, grade 4-5 configuration by establishing a second grade 4-5 school at Village School. That action reversed the district’s long-range commitment to a K-5 configuration.
The discussion of K-5 configuration was reopened by the board in June after several board members including Diane Hasling and Mr. Marathe, who both voiced opposition to the current K-3, grade 4-5 configuration prior to being elected in April, pushed for its consideration.
The board has since been debating how the schools should be configured to best handle expected growth.
Currently fourth- and fifth-grade elementary students attend the Upper Elementary School. In September 2002, when the Town Center Elementary School is expected to open, half of the district’s fourth- and fifth-grade students will move to the Village School and K-3 students would be moved into the new building and three other elementary schools.
The district anticipates 4-percent enrollment growth each year through 2007, when complete build-out for the district is expected, Ms. Hutner said. The board agreed Tuesday that the projected total enrollment for the district at full build-out in 2007 will be 9,800 students with a contingency of 300 students. This projection includes 653 kindergarten students and 787 students in each grade, one through 12.
Currently, there are 8,500 students enrolled in the district. A 4-percent increase translates to the addition of about 340 students this fall.