For the West Windsor-Plainsboro School district, this may be a lull before a storm. ##M:[more]##
With the negotiations with the West Windsor-Plainsboro Service Association (WWPSA) having reached a tentative agreement in August, West Windsor board member Linda Geevers — who chaired the negotiating committee — says that the committee is waiting for the union to make the next move. “We are waiting for them to put the numbers together and the sooner they get back to us, the sooner we can review it.”
The board would then study the salary guides from the union and could agree with them or suggest changes. If both agree, the union would vote whether to ratify the agreement. If that passes, the board would then vote whether to ratify. “Right now all that we have is a tentative agreement,” says Geevers. The WWPSA represents the district’s bus drivers, mechanics, secretaries, custodians, instructional assistants, and maintenance workers.
Also on the horizon is negotiations for a new contract with the teachers. A board committee was also set to begin preliminary negotiations with the teacher’s union, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Association (WWPEA). On the committee are Stan Katz (chairman), Geevers, Robert Johnson, all of West Windsor, and Henry Wieck of Plainsboro. The teacher’s contract, which took effect on July 1, 2002, is set to expire at the end of the school year in June, 2005.
The much-discussed strategic planning initiative, which has been brewing for two years, will be unveiled in December with a public presentation of the strategic plan. At the October 12 board meeting, assistant superintendent Jon Cosse said that the three teams have completed their work and he is finalizing the draft plan. When it is completed, a publication will be sent to staff and community members with strategic planning information.
“Committees have been busy and we are putting on the final touches,” says Geevers. “We are in the home stretch.”
The thorough study of the entire middle school program is set to be presented to the board in January. The presentation will be made by Victoria Kniewel, the district’s new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The study, approved by the board last month, was spurred on by repeated complaints by parents, students, and teachers about the controversial middle school schedule and Language in the Content Area (LCA), which were imposed at the start of the 2003-’04 school year.
After the new year, the board will begin the cumbersome process of preparing the 2005-’06 school budget. It will be voted on by residents of West Windsor and Plainsboro on Tuesday, April 19.
Lights and Dugouts
At High School North, the baseball and softball booster clubs have successfully raised enough money and donations to get four dugouts built in time for the next season without costing the district a dime. But meanwhile, efforts to get lights installed at High School North’s football field using a similar strategy — spearheaded by Pete Weale, who ran for school board in West Windsor last year — have repeatedly gone for naught. (See letter on page 2.)
This means that either the occasional use of rented temporary lights will be continued or all home games will be played on Saturday afternoons. The temporary lighting is considered to be inadequate by many, leaving parts of the field in shadows and punted footballs disappearing into the darkness above punt returners who cannot follow the flight of the ball. This year’s annual North versus South showdown will be played under such temporary lights on Friday, November 19, at High School South at 7 p.m.
“No one has presented a written proposal,” says School Board President Hemant Marathe. “If there is a proposal that doesn’t cost the district anything we will certainly consider it. But Mr. Weale has only sent some e-mail about how we can reallocate our revenue in order to set up lights.”
“Speaking as one board member, I don’t think the board will go for it,” adds Marathe. “This will not be the time to do it because there are too many other programs that need money. If the booster club can raise the money (as the baseball booster clubs did for the dugouts) then we will consider it.”
On the other hand, Marathe says that even a proposal that would cost nothing may still be rejected by the board. “I don’t want to mislead anyone by saying that if it’s $100,”000 (and they raise that amount) then it’s a slam dunk,” says Marathe. “I don’t know how much it would cost to have more security at night games, whether we would need to set up stands for visiting teams, or whether the football field could be used as a lacrosse field without costly modifications.” He also says that the district may then face opposition from the township or neighborhood residents.
But for Bob Chirumbolo — father of High School North baseball star Jono Chirumbolo — getting the dugouts built was a big victory.
“When they built the field at North, they built a beautiful facility, but they failed to build dugouts for the baseball and softball teams,” says Chirumbolo, a resident of West Windsor who works as a financial planner for Northwestern Mutual.
So the High School North booster club was contacted by the school to see if there was a way to raise money to build them, in the same way that the booster club at South did last year.
As the president of the baseball booster club, Chirumbolo contacted members of the North softball booster club and hatched some ideas. First the players held a fundraiser last spring, but only raised $3,”500, just a portion of the total estimated cost of about $3,”000 per dugout totaling about $12,”000.
So they put a call in to some of the contractors in town. Donations were received by Nini Construction’s Enzo Nini, who is donating labor; Tom Troy of Sharbell Development, who is building the Village Center and Plainsboro Estates, who agreed to pay for all the materials; Robert Fania of RMF Architects, who design the plans for the dugouts; Richard Glover of Williams Builder, which is supplying materials and labor for the roofs of the softball dugouts; and Jim McCaffrey of McCaffreys.
This is Chirumbolo’s second triumph in two years. Last year he helped in the successful fundraising effort to build a Pop Warner football field in West Windsor. “This is similar because we got the players and community involved in a joint effort to get things done,” says Chirumbolo.
These are concrete dugouts, permanent structures, while the dugouts at South are made of wood. “We went through the permit process with the township, in order to build them out of concrete,” says Chirumbolo. “We have approved concrete structures that are going to be a real nice addition to the facilities at North.”
The four dugouts are expected to be completed in time for spring practice. “This is a long time coming,” says Chirumbolo.
“It isn’t something we started on a whim last year. We’ve been trying to put this together for a few years and it will be nice for Jon to be able to use before he graduates next June.”
But for Pete Weale, who hopes to be able to see his son, a rifle-armed sophomore quarterback, play football under the lights at High School North’s own field, it is still an uphill battle.
Next Meeting. The next board meeting will be on Tuesday, October 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Community Middle School, 55 Grovers Mill Road in Plainsboro.
Other Board News
At the board’s meeting on October 12, Megan Castellano, a senior at High School North, and Kavita Vinekar, a senior at South, were named as this year’s board student representatives. They will attend board meetings and offer reports to the board about the goings-on within the schools.
A number of field trips for middle school students were approved by the board, including a Community Middle School Explorer Club to Ace of Diamonds Mine, Herkimer, New York, on October 16-17, 2004, for approximately 20 students. The cost is $95 per student.
Community Middle School’s AMIGOS will travel to the Delaware Water Gap on May 20-21, 2005. It is for approximately 25 students with a cost of $75 per student.
Community Middle School Explorer Club will go to the Delaware Water Gap on June 11-12, 2005. The cost is $95 per student and about 20 students will attend.
Community Middle School eighth grade French classes will go to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, on March 28-April 1, 2005. About 25 students will pay $750 to attend. The field trip will take place during spring recess.
Grover Middle School Project Pride to Happiness Is Camping, Blairstown, New Jersey, on April 27-29, 2005, for approximately 55 students. There is no cost to students.
Grover Middle School Grade 8 French Classes to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, on June 3-6, 2005, for approximately 100 students. The cost is $500 per student.
