By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
After the superintendent of the regional school district presented a summary of the $80 million-plus school district budget to the Hopewell Township Committee recently, one committee member asked why agricultural courses are not offered.
“We’re still basically a 50-percent agricultural community,” Committeeman John Hart told Superintendent Thomas Smith at the most recent Committee meeting. “You never offer a class in agricultural in your school. Not everyone is going to be a scientist or a lawyer or doctor.”
With the size of the school general fund budget being what it is, Mr. Hart said he would like to see some classes available where students “can get their hands dirty.”
Dr. Smith said that although agricultural courses are not part of the curriculum in the district, Hopewell Valley Central High School is “one of only a few comprehensive high schools left in the county and among the high-achieving high schools in the state” that still offer wood shop and auto shop classes.
“It’s something I value and something I believe in,” the superintendent said on May 24, although he added student enrollment in the courses is decreasing. “What we are doing is kind of retooling some of those classes.”
For example, he said, part of the Performing Arts Academy at the high school is stage set design and set building.
“So we still utilize the wood shop to give those kids a hands-on experience, but it’s different,” Dr. Smith said.
For example, he said, part of the Performing Arts Academy at the high school is stage set design and set building.
“So we still utilize the wood shop to give those kids a hands-on experience, but it’s different,” Dr. Smith said.
The academy is a specialized program that provides students with performing arts curricula focused in dance, instrumental music, vocal music, theatre and/or musical theatre, in addition to their academic program at Central High School.
Auto shop also is a “struggle,” he said, because “kids are not going into that now.”
“We really want to try and retool that and make it more palatable for kids,” the superintendent said. “We’re doing small engine repair.”
“So I can’t guarantee an agricultural class, but I can say we are redoing the garden in the high school. I’m hoping that will generate a lot of interest,” Smith said.
Township Committeewoman Julie Blake commented said that students going into the trades or farming as careers “are going to need 21st-century skills.”
Committeeman Hart also questioned the superintendent about the overall size of the budget, and whether the school district has too many principals or too many administrators.
“People come back to me and say ‘We’re paying for a private school education with our public dollars,’” Mr. Hart said. “It seems like a lot of money to run the school system.”
Dr. Smith responded, in part, saying, “When I arrived here seven years ago we had 29 administrators; we now have 23. So I do look for ways to capitalize on that. We do feel that we are respectful of the taxpayers. We look at ways to balance expectations.”
About the size of the budget, the superintendent said this year’s 0.7 percent hike in the general fund over last year is the lowest increase in the school district’s history.
“We have the lowest increase in the county,” Smith said.
Mr. Hart replied saying the school district in the last four years has had annual general fund budget hikes of more than 2 percent one year and more than 3 percent in another.
“You’ve had a lot of increases, so I wouldn’t expect to get another increase this year,” the committeeman said.
The superintendent responded saying, “We are tightening our budget and tightening our belts” though “it might not feel that way.”
Editor’s note: The story’s stated size of the increase in the general fund was corrected June 6.
