Now that it is the holiday season, many people have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. But officials in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district are starting to think about dollar signs and the stocking stuffers are capital improvements.##M:[more]##
The school budget season is in its nascent phase and WW-P officials are starting to hammer out the 2005-’06 ledger sheets. “The administrative teams are now meeting building-by-building and department-by-department to see what the needs will be,” says Gerri Hutner, district spokesperson.
The budget season won’t get into full swing until late January or early February for the school board, but district officials are hoping to craft a lean budget that will be passed by voters as easily as last year’s $130 million dollar spending plan for the 2004-’05 school year (a 4.4 percent increase over the previous year’s budget.) The budget resulted in a tax of 28.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value in Plainsboro and a decrease of 1.7 cents in West Windsor.
While the budget will certainly increase as a whole, what the increases or decreases might be for taxpayers in 2005-’06 is not yet known. “It’s way too early for that,” says Stan Katz, board member from West Windsor. Unless there is a brand new program, much of the budget requirements for the district’s operational expenses is fairly routine, according to Katz. “The big items are in what the capital needs are for each building,” he says.
Linda Geevers, board member from West Windsor, says that capital improvements will be particularly important this budget season. “The board has already reached a consensus during our retreats this fall that there needs to be more money spent on capital improvements in the next budget.”
Last year the district allocated $1.2 million for capital improvement projects for all 10 of its schools. The state contributed over $500,”000. Part of the urgency about completing capital improvements sooner rather than later, especially for the district’s older facilities such as Dutch Neck Elementary and High School South, is due to a recent report saying that the state coffers for such projects will run dry in 2006. The state currently pays 40 percent of the costs for such projects. “Putting a new roof on one school can cost over a million dollars all by itself,” says Geevers. “One project can use up the whole budget.”
Hutner says that the budget is in the earliest stages and won’t be handed to the board’s finance committee — made up of Stephen Smith of West Windsor, Liyou Yang of Plainsboro, and Katz — until January. After the finance committee has its discussions, the entire board will have an opportunity to add its expertise. Registered voters in West Windsor and Plainsboro will be able to vote for or against the 2005-’06 budget on Tuesday, April 19.
Calculus & Senior Option
The board approved a new high level calculus course at its meeting on December 14. “Multivariable Calculus and Advanced Topics” will be incorporated in the High School Program of Studies (to be voted on at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, December 21, at 7:30 p.m.)
The five credit course will be offered to Grade 12 students who have a prerequisite of strong competency in AP Calculus and a teacher recommendation. It is the final course in the college preparatory mathematics sequence for gifted and talented students.
In the course the concepts learned in single-variable calculus will be extended into three dimensions. Topics studied will include vector valued functions, multiple integrals, vector calculus, and differential equations. Other advanced topics will be explored as time permits.
The board also approved the High School Senior Option program on December 14. Created by the state Department of Education, the Senior Options Program allows college-bound students who have passed the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) and have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 to intern with area companies or pursue service-learning opportunities. The positions are unpaid and companies would not be obligated to promise employment opportunities after the internship is completed.
Defibrillator Regulation
The board heard a first reading of a proposed policy on the use of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) at its December 14 meeting. In an emergency situation, such as cardiac arrest, AED can be used by trained personnel to deliver an electrical impulse to an individual’s heart.
The district has seven defibrillators: two at each high school, one at Dutch Neck Elementary, one at Maurice Hawk Elementary, and one at Community Middle School. At the elementary and middle schools, defibrillators were purchased by the PTSA. One defibrillator was donated by a parent at each high school and the district purchased a second one for both North and South. “With all the events at the high schools, not just sports events but also things like concerts, the district decided that it needed to have two at each school,” says Gerri Hutner, district spokesperson.
The policy, which will be voted on by the board at its next meeting, draws guidelines for the use of AED such as under what conditions it should be used, how to assess an emergency situation, detailed instructions on how to use it, where in the school building it should be stored, and an appropriate maintenance program. “There is already a defibrillator policy in the district’s manual, but there is a small change and that is why the board needs to vote on it,” says Hutner.
Next Meeting
Because of the holidays the board will have its next meeting one week earlier than usual. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, December 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Community Middle School, 55 Grovers Mill Road, Plainsboro.
The board is expected to vote on the High School Program of Studies and whether to allow the varsity baseball teams from High School North and High School South to attend spring training camp in Fort Pierce, Florida next March during Spring Break.
