Study shows student growth within next five years
By:Vanessa S. Holt
CHESTERFIELD Although the student population is not expected to increase dramatically in the immediate future, school officials said they are beginning to examine potential sites for a second elementary school in the district.
A demographic study completed last year indicated there would be enrollment growth within the next five years because of a planned village center which is expected to include up to 1,100 new houses.
School board Secretary Louise Zoilkowski said the studies will center on determining the most cost-effective location for a second school.
Two sites that are included in the study are located in outlying regions of the northwest part of the township around the village center and a third site is within the planned center itself.
The sites being examined each consist of about 25 acres between Old York Road and Crosswicks-Chesterfield Road in the receiving area, where development in the township will be centered under the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program.
Van Cleef Engineering Associates of Robbinsville, the firm hired by the school board to conduct the studies, will prepare a preliminary cost comparison between the sites and evaluate on-site development costs based on the results of soil tests and other studies.
Chesterfield Township Elementary School on Bordentown-Chesterfield Road currently houses more than 260 students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Ms. Zoilkowski said the second school would probably house half of the elementary school grades although it has not yet been determined which grades would reside in each school.