Clinton Township Newsletter

1 6 m a y 2 0 2 4 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 May 24 - Schools Closed (unused emergency closing day) May 27 - Memorial Day Schools Closed June 4 - Professional Development Day Schools Closed for students June 12 - Marking Period-4 ends June 14 - Early Dismissal Pre-K PM only at alternate time, no AM at alternate time IMPORTANT DATES TO KEEP IN MIND THIS MONTH: A MESSAGE FROM DR. STAGER, CTSD SUPERINTENDENT: 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 Spruce Run School Spruce Run Preschool students are learning all about wheels! Students are learning the difference between rolling and sliding items on the floor, collecting items with wheels, and comparing how wheels can be similar and different. Throughout choice time centers, students explored a real tire, moved cars with magnets and sent cars down ramps! Spruce Run Preschool is very excited to have a Girl Scout Gold Project that w i l l b e s t a r t i n g i n M a y . A n e w sensory path will b e d e s i g n e d a n d painted in our play area in the back of the school for the students to enjoy! I N O U R S C H O O L S : Dear Clinton Township Community Members, On April 29 the CTSD Board of Education voted on the budget for the 2024-2025 school year. This budget maintains class sizes, allows for preschool expansion, and continues the district's commitment to updating our technology infrastructure and use. However, the reality remains that expenses continue to climb, and the district has significant needs. In the next few years, we will need to address aging or neglected infrastructure while continuing to support innovation. Currently, CTSD needs HVAC upgrades, roof replacements, parking lot fixes, window replacement, land drainage, technology needs, audio needs, boiler replacement, and flooring. Many districts, when they have these needs, go out for a referendum. This enables the district to make all the upgrades in a short time period to ensure the district continues to thrive in the long term. Many districts have referendums when debt payments are set to expire. For our district, the debt payments for CTMS will not EVERY STUDENT INSPIRED, EVERY TEAM MEMBER SUPPORTED, AND EVERY FAMILY ENGAGED. Patrick McGaheran School PMG celebrated World Autism Awareness day in April! As part of the celebration of Autism Acceptance month in April, the New Jersey Department of Education and Office of Special Education invited entries from students with autism for an online virtual art show for the month of April 2024. The art expo is titled "What's in a Dream" and celebrates unique expression and skills of students across New Jersey. Students from PMG under the supervision of our art teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Noone, sent in entries for the art show. Congratulations to our students whose art work is on display! The entries are beautiful and we are all so proud of our students' for their hard work! The virtual art expo is interactive and accessible through a computer, tablet, or phone. You may access the virtual art expo at: https:// tinyurl.com/3cnwby3v In May, we continue celebrating the visual arts at PMG with our PMG Arts Fest, where families will be able to stroll the hallways filled with student artwork, pose with friends at the photo booth, create make-and-take artworks and more! There will also be a ceramics gallery in the gym and the GLOW gallery in the art room! We look forward to celebrating art at PMG! fall off until 2034. We as a district are mindful of cost of living increases and do not want to ask for additional funding if it can be avoided. Therefore we are creatively trying to plan for the future while maintaining our high standards. 80% of a district's budget goes to staffing. As district enrollment declines we have slowly addressed not replacing positions as people retire. We have also looked at CTMS teachers teaching additional classes. We are leasing large technology purchases to ensure we have predictable payments, and we are looking at increasing interest earned on our accounts. We have entered partnerships with the township and other districts. We are using SRPS to house buses and we continually are looking for grant funding. We hope this combination of reducing costs, increasing revenue, and thinking outside of the box will allow us to keep tax raises below the threshold. Regular school taxes will increase by 2.8% for the 2024-2025 school year. This increase is below the cost increases we will be facing for heating, transportation, and salaries for the CTEA, which are currently being negotiated. Great schools are the anchor point of a great community. When people are buying a house many consider the quality of the school district. We know we have excellent schools, and we are doing work to increase access to opportunities, and to continue to grow our academic achievement. We look forward to partnering with the community to ensure we are mindful of costs while doing work to make CTSD stand out in Hunterdon County. If you would like to view the budget presentation it will be posted on our website in May. – Sincerely, Dr. Melissa Stager, Ed.D, Superintendent, CTSD

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