Clinton Township Newsletter

1 4 a u g u s t 2 0 1 9 w w w . C L I N T O N T W P N E W S L E T T E R . c o m C L I N T O N T O W N S H I P S C H O O L N E W S www.ctsdnj.org A L e t t e r f r o m Michele Cone, Superintendent of Schools Dear Clinton Township Community Members: The summer is certainly flying by! It may seem that summer is a quiet time in a school district, however, there is much to do to prepare for the next school year. As students and their families have been enjoying their summer vacations and camps, the Clinton Township School District has been hard at work preparing for the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Administrators are busy preparing the schedules and class lists for the return of students. The buildings and grounds staff are cleaning and getting the buildings ready for students. Projects within the district for flooring, air conditioning, bathroom renovations and security upgrades are well underway. We hope you are enjoying the summer, relaxing and resting up for the new school year! – Dr. Michele Cone, Superintendent of Schools A L e t t e r f r o m t h e C t S D B o A r D o f e D u C A t i o n Dear Clinton Township Community Member: At this time, we would like to share with everyone in the community our position on the main critical issues keeping negotiations from moving forward between the Clinton Township Board of Education and Clinton Township Education Association. This way you have the same information that we do, and you can understand how we have arrived at our position in this negotiation. The prevailing challenges that both sides are struggling to come to an agreement on, is a sustainable healthcare benefit package and percentage increase. The issue of managing rising healthcare costs is one that is plaguing every school district in the State of New Jersey. Our district is trying to find a solution to rising healthcare costs, so that we can successfully balance our budget, along with the additional challenges of declining student enrollment, drastic reductions in state aid and increases in Special Education costs; without raising taxes, laying off teachers and increasing class sizes. We believe that we can do all of this with an agreement on a sustainable healthcare benefit package. Clinton Township School District has gone from approximately 1,800 students in 2000 to 1,219 today, with operational expenses continuing to rise. Last August, without notice, our district lost approximately $302,000 in state aid because the state refused to pay the same amount of aid when a town's enrollment declines, according to New Jersey's funding formula. Special Education costs have increased exponentially over the years. From what we hear, the negotiations on the budget in Trenton are not going well, which means the reduction in our allocation of state aid for the new school year could be even less than what we are anticipating. This happened last year, and if we had not reorganized the district, we would have had to layoff members of our staff and increase class sizes. Many school districts in New Jersey were faced with the same challenge last August, and were forced to take those measures to meet their projected budget for the September school year. Since 2010, the district agreed to keep class sizes at the same or below the state average in that specific five year strategic plan. Over the years, and through difficult financial times, the district has been successful in keeping this commitment by implementing some creative solutions such as: 1. Participating in the School Choice program 2. Combining and rewriting job descriptions to improve district staff efficiencies 3. Reorganizing the district 4. Filing for grants 5. Implementing thorough maintenance plans of our buildings 6. Sharing in transportation costs with our Special Education students 7. Refinancing our debt service 8. Right-sizing district staff based on student enrollment and need Until now, instituting these financial actions has been sufficient to allow the district to maintain the class sizes that we expect in Clinton Township. Healthcare costs in our district are escalating at record rates, and therefore we are now forced to find a sustainable healthcare plan, so that we can avoid laying off teachers and increasing class sizes. This is why we are trying to work with the CTEA to find a mutually acceptable healthcare package that would be sustainable for the district. It is also important to share that some money saved from moving to a sustainable healthcare package would be used to fund higher percentage increases for our staff, working towards resolving our main challenges. We are hopeful that with the help of the Fact- Finder, a mutual agreement on a sustainable healthcare package can occur. We would like nothing more than to start the 2019-2020 school year with a contract. The Clinton Township Board of Education continues to have the highest level of respect for each and every district staff member and we appreciate all that they do for Clinton Township's children. The Board understands the importance of negotiating this contract with the Clinton Township Education Association and is eager to finalize this agreement. Sincerely, Maria Grant President of the CTSD Board of Education Clinton Township Board of Education Statement on Negotiations with The Clinton Township Education Association, June 17, 2019 I N O U R S C H O O L S : Spruce Run School Sprucing up Spruce Run School! Leave it to preschool and kindergarten students to get in the dirt and plant beautiful white daisies around the entrance to Spruce Run School during the month of July. White daisies represent innocence and new beginnings, both found in the minds of our youngest learners. The summer program at Spruce Run School offered a welcome opportunity to spruce up Spruce while learning to use garden tools, explore creatures in the soil, and work as a team to make a beautiful garden. Students look forward to tending to and nurturing the garden in prep for the start of the 2019-2020 school year. We are already planning for the fall season filled with color and surprises. Patrick McGaheran School It's been a very busy summer at PMG this year! In addition to the cleaning projects that occur each summer to make our school sparkle, we are so excited about the construction projects that are underway to enhance our PMG environment. Bathrooms are being updated across from the cafeteria and installed in two kindergarten bathrooms, as well as new air conditioning units in the kindergarten classrooms and painting around the school. These wonderful projects will benefit our students

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