While expansion of the Village School is the big undertaking on the books for the coming year, other capital projects are being considered by the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district.
At the January 28 board meeting Larry Shanok, assistant superintendent for finance, began the budget season by giving an overview of the possible capital projects that are being considered for the 2014-’15 budget, which include electrical upgrades, at a district-wide cost of $3,518,000; security upgrades, at a cost of $1,102,000; and maintaining and upgrading technology infrastructure, at a cost of $1,123,500.
“When starting this process, we contacted the school principals, the building and grounds staff, and the architects, to find out what capital projects would be on their ‘wish lists,’” said Shanok. “The cost of all of the suggested projects would be close to $18 million, which of course we cannot afford. So we selected what we felt were the most pressing or important capital projects to include in the budget. If they are all approved, the cost will be approximately $4 million.”
Selected projects run the gamut from flooring and carpet replacement to fireproofing restoration, cafeteria HVAC and other improvements, lighting, and parking lot improvements. About $1 million will be allocated for technology to fully implement the Google Chrome books 1:1 plan (see WW-P News, June 7, 2013) which, in part, will allow all incoming sixth grade students to have their own Google Chrome book.
The district is also contemplating the purchase of a pick-up truck with a plow, at an estimated cost of $45,000. For a full list of the requested projects, which includes those likely to be included in the 2014-’15 budget, visit the district website (www.ww-p.org).
The budget will be discussed in further detail at the Tuesday, February 18, board meeting, and a review will take place on Tuesday, March 11. The budget will be submitted to the county on March 20, and a public hearing has been tentatively scheduled for May 6. According to Shanok, the budget will remain under the 2 percent cap mandated by the state. Therefore, under state law, the public will not be voting on its passage.
The board also approved an agreement with the Davis Group to provide security at all 10 district schools. According to Board member Michelle Kaish, the board has determined that the pilot security program “Eyes on the Door” has been successful at all four schools that are currently utilizing the security measure — Millstone River School, Village School, Community Middle School, and Grover Middle School — and therefore the board has decided to expand the program to encompass all district schools.
#b#Overnight Trips#/b#
In addition, the board approved three overnight field trips: Community Middle School Band to Washington, DC, from June 5 through 7, at a cost of approximately $415 per student; High School South Orchestra to Italy from November 22 through 29, at a cost of approximately $2,500 per student; and High School South Band to Madrid, Granada, and Toledo, Spain, from February 16 through 22, 2015, at a cost of approximately $2,500 per student.
“The costs for each of these trips are borne by the students or their parents, not the school district,” explained board vice president Richard Kaye. “The curriculum committee is in the process of re-evaluating our overnight trip policy. First, we have decided that parents will no longer be allowed to accompany students on overseas field trips, and freshmen continue to remain ineligible. We are also looking at whether middle school is the proper age for students to be going on some of these trips. We want to make sure the opportunities are available for every student at the same grade level across the district regardless of which school they attend.”
Kaye also gave an overview of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, which are slated to replace the NJASK testing, starting in the 2014-’15 school year. “As it stands now, the PARCC will be administered to all students, from third through eleventh grades, in language arts and math. The tests are aligned with the common core standards, and our curriculum has been adjusted to reflect this.”
According to Kaye the PARCC tests are being field-tested this spring. Selected classes at both high schools, both middle schools, and a fifth grade class at Village will be given these practice tests as part of field-testing process.
#b#Village Expansion#/b#
Superintendent of schools David Aderhold presented additional details on the Village expansion project and the Board of Education voted to approve the plan, 6 to 0. New board member Scott Powell abstained. The expected total project amount will be approximately $10,584,000.
Said Aderhold: “The purposes behind the expansion are multifold and include classroom overcrowding and projected enrollment growth; the need to relocate the central office, because the current building was damaged by Hurricane Irene; the alignment of many district services, including special education, transportation, community education, registration, and guidance; and last, but certainly not least, the alignment of special education programs for students and their families.
“Too often,” the superintendent said, “the children in this category are forced to move from one to school to another depending on their grade and where their program is being located. These students and their families, in particular, need to have continuity and familiarity with their buildings and school communities from year to year.”
The project will necessitate changes at several of the district’s schools, the most notable being that Town Center will become a Pre K to second grade building, and Millstone River will become a grade 3 to 5 building. Aderhold explained that Town Center third graders — and only Town Center third graders — will move to Millstone River for the 2015-’16 school year. Wicoff third graders will remain at Wicoff, and Dutch Neck and Maurice Hawk third graders will remain at their respective schools as well.
“One of the biggest problems we are facing is the increase in school population growth, both actual and projected,” Aderhold said. “And no matter what we do, we will always be constrained by the fact that Millstone River was built without bathrooms in most of the classrooms. By law Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms must have bathrooms in them, and to retrofit Millstone at this point would be very, very expensive. So we have to work around the fact that, even though Millstone currently has the most available space, it can’t be turned into a true elementary school.”
No changes will be made to Maurice Hawk, Community Middle School, or either of the high schools. Aderhold also provided details as to what changes are coming to each of the affected schools:
Town Center:
— Preschool for disabled 3 and 4 year olds from Dutch Neck;
— Autistic 1-3 grades from Millstone River;
— Preschool for disabled from Millstone River;
— New occupational therapy/physical therapy (OT/PT) room;
— One section of Kindergarten Extension from Millstone River;
— Two to three open rooms to be determined.
Village School (in addition to the actual expansion):
— Kindergarten Extension (2 sections);
— Growth for 4th grade;
— Growth for 5th grade;
— Integrated preschool classrooms from Town Center and Wicoff;
— Two small-group instruction (SGI) rooms and/ or one full classroom (movable wall) to be determined.
Wicoff Elementary School:
— Integrated preschool will move out of Wicoff to Village;
— One section of kindergarten extension will move from Millstone River to Wicoff;
Dutch Neck Elementary School:
— Preschool disabled 3 and 4 year olds will move to Town Center;
— Rooms 407 and 409 will open up;
— Room 10 (OT/PT Room) will open up as a classroom space;
Millstone River Elementary School:
— Rooms A110, A111, A112, A116 and A118 will open when the community education department is moved;
— Room A149 will be used for Autism classrooms grades 1 to 3;
— Room B157 will be used for Preschool disabled;
— Room B149 will become a staff development room and office;
— Room C103 will become a staff resource room and a community education classroom;
— Room D103 will once again become a music room;
— And A122, which is an art room, will be open for other instruction for a half-day every day.
The revised timeline for the project is for construction at Village School to begin during the spring of 2014. By November of this year, the district hopes to have the fully-enclosed building portion completed, and for the entire project to be finished by the summer of 2015.
