Clinton Township Newsletter

1 4 A p r i l 2 0 1 6 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com 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.ctsd.k12.nj.us A L e t t e r f r o m Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent of Schools The Clinton Township Board of Education Ad Hoc Committee investigating the feasibility of closing a school made a presentation to the Board and community on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 pm in the Clinton Township Middle School Auditorium. One of the key points to note about this presentation is that it was the beginning of a conversation with the community on the impact of declining enrollment in our schools and decisions we must make together for the future. No final recommendation was voted on by the Board, but a recommendation for future discussions and planning was made by the committee. This topic was initiated over a year ago due to requests by community members concerned about the impact of declining enrollment in the district. The Committee Chair and Board of Education President, Maria Grant made the presentation along with Mr. William Colantano of Bedard, Kurowicki & Co., CPA's. (who has been the district auditor for over ten years) and with Rachel McLaughlin, the Board Vice President. Mr. Colantano also reviewed the past ten years of budgets and financial history. The presentation was detailed and lengthy, but consisted of basically two parts. The first half of the presentation was a review of the Board's goals, district enrollment trends, district spending, the relative components of a district budget and significant changes in education over the last ten years. The Board President and Auditor showed how the district had presented responsible budgets with declining enrollment and increases in "unfunded mandates" (all of the laws and regulations school districts are required to meet in order to operate) requiring program changes, additions and required spending. There was a discussion on the State of New Jersey's "unfunded mandates" and their impact on New Jersey school budgets, specifically Clinton Township's. Some of these requirements included: Achieve NJ and the new teacher and principal evaluations, Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Laws, the Common Core and PARCC, Dyslexia Laws and Special Education. The impact of aging facilities, increased security needs and what the district has done over the years to contain all these costs was also discussed and detailed. The second half of the presentation detailed the actions of the committee, inclusive of the demographic study, enrollment trends, the impact of COAH requirements and construction, district policy and a capacity analysis. The Ad Hoc Committee considered the flexibility of the district to handle future increases in enrollment, the ability to manage changes in special education law and classroom needs, the operating budget to run each school, short and long term capital project needs and general maintenance. Multiple options for consolidation were also reviewed inclusive of repurposing spaces for revenue generating purposes, creating neighborhood schools, consolidating into three buildings and/or maintaining the current configuration. The committee noted that more work will need to be done on financials and cost/benefit analysis as this discussion moves into the future. The Ad Hoc Committee asked the question: At the current enrollment numbers, could the district consolidate the student population into three buildings? The answer: Potentially, with some building restructuring. The consolidated building configuration could possibly look like Spruce Run being repurposed, Patrick McGaheran used for grades PreK-2; Round Valley 3rd - 5th grades; and Clinton Township Middle School 6th - 8th grades. The pros and cons were dissected including some operational challenges and structural changes required. The economics were reviewed, including costs to upgrade and potential savings, but this is an area the Board recommended will need more detail before decisions can be made and fully analyzed. The Committee made recommendations based on the information they had at of the date of this presentation. Some events, such as the status of Merck and Foster Wheeler properties, an unexpected influx of students, growth of COAH, world and social events and changes in special education laws and the impact on student programming may impact future decisions. The immediate recommendation was to not consolidate in the 2016/17 or 2017/18 school years, but to initiate the process to prepare the district for this potential consolidation in the future. There were a number of questions and comments and a healthy and vigorous discussion took place. A number of parents spoke to the concern that the demographic study underestimated the move of the millennial generation to the suburbs. However, at this current time, the enrollment data is not supporting the idea. This was discussed and the Board will watch it carefully. If they occur, changes will be noted and taken into consideration. Parents wanted class size to remain smaller and asked if cost was driving the discussion. The Board spoke of the need for revenue production. The reason this becomes important is to contain costs and manage the tax levy for all the taxpayers of the community. You can see the entire slide presentation or listen to the audio on the district website at: www.ctsd.k12.nj.us. Questions can be sent to the district at: ctsdadhoc@ctsd.k12.nj.us. Please note that the 2016/17 Preliminary Budget Presentation will be discussed on March 21st at 7:30 pm in the CTMS Auditorium. It will also be posted on the district website. A Public Hearing on the School Budget is scheduled for April 25 at 7:30 pm in the CTMS Auditorium. With appreciation for a great community, Dr. Drucilla Clark I N O U R S C H O O L S : Dear Members of the Clinton Township Community: SuRScho Lego Robotics: Students at SRS have been working in small groups in Enrichment Specials to build Lego robotic animals. They take their robotic animals to Technology Specials where they program and test their robots. LEGO® Education WeDo is a cross-curricular tool that enables students to learn, construct and then bring their models to life, with a focus upon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills. STEM education encourages a curriculum that is driven by problem solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and student-centered development of ideas and solutions. This was a grant-funded project from the Clinton Township Foundation for Educational Excellence, which provided open-ended lesson ideas and allowed students to create robotic devices. Starlab: The Starlab is a portable planetarium that was brought to SRS to provide our students with the opportunity to view the constellations. The Starlab dome is inflated and constellations are projected onto the ceiling using a special projector. SRS teachers, Mrs. Jaw and Ms. Tanis, participated in the Starlab training at Raritan Valley Community College and provided this opportunity to our students. It was so exciting to learn more about the stars from the comfort of the classroom! PaickMcGahScho P M G L i b r a r y : T h e l i b r a r y i n P a t r i c k M c G a h e r a n ( P M G ) s c h o o l i s u n i q u e l y positioned at the heart and the center of the school building, as well as the school community. We have a student centered library that invites children into the world of adventure, fantasy, humor, or information, and encourages them to be a part of the journey. The students take part in forming the collection by suggesting book titles we should add to our shelves, as well as giving book recommendations to the school community. Kicking off School Library Month in April at the PMG library is Hunterdon County Librarians Association (HCLA) Enthusiastic Reader winner Rosa Spann! Rosa likes our library because we have lots of books to choose from. She likes to read books about adventures, because she likes to pretend that she is along on the adventure. Rosa also likes that our Librarian, Mrs. Ehlert, helps choose books that she enjoys reading. Spotlight on Art: Clinton Township Art Exhibits 2016: Art Teachers in the Clinton Township School District spend time engaging their students in all types of artistic media from watercolor to clay, in order to get ready for the many extracurricular art shows open to the public this year. March was Youth Art Month, to celebrate the talents of our young artists. SRS, PMG and RVS participated in this year's YAM festivities. Elementary, middle and high schools from all over Hunterdon and Warren County sent select works of art to be showcased in the lobby of the Hunterdon Health and Wellness

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