Manal.-Eng. board OKs new setup for district schools

In a decision the superintendent of schools believes will result in a more efficient operation, the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education has voted to change the way local schools are structured.

Beginning in September 2009, the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District will operate on a neighborhood school concept, with children in grades one through five assigned to attend the school closest to their home and remaining in that school for as long as five years.

The Dec. 9 decision by the board is a fundamental change in the way the district has organized its schools. For years, the school district has operated with schools in which children in grades 1-3 (and before that K-3), 4-6 and 7-8 were educated.

Following a recommendation by Superintendent of Schools John J. Marciante Jr., the board approved a restructuring plan that will take effect in the 2009-10 school year. The plan will create five elementary schools for children in grades one through five, and it will create one school for all of the district's sixth-grade pupils.

The regional district educates children from Manalapan and Englishtown. All of the district's schools are in Manalapan.

Marciante has said the change in the district's organization was aimed at reducing costs. He said New Jersey education officials are requiring local school districts to operate more efficiently and said this change will allow the Manalapan Englishtown district to accomplish that mandate. Savings are projected in salaries, with less staff to educate the same number of children, and in transportation.

The superintendent said a projected deficit in the 2009- 10 budget has been eliminated by the restructuring which will take effect at the start of that school year.

Two schools will not see any change in grade levels.

The John I. Dawes Early Learning Center will continue to house children in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. The school day will run from 9:20 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.

The Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School will continue to house children in grades seven and eight. The school day will run from 7:20 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.

The Pine Brook School will become a school that houses all of the district's sixth-grade classes. The school day will run from 8:50 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.

Five elementary schools will become buildings that house children in grades one through five. They are the Clark Mills School (8:10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.); the Taylor Mills School (8:10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.); the Wemrock Brook School (8:10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.); the Lafayette Mills School (8:50 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.); and the Milford Brook School (9:20 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.)

One adjustment, which was made after parents expressed concern, will affect the academically talented (AT) classes at the Pine Brook School. Students who are admitted into the AT math track as sixthgraders will have science with the same group of pupils, and students who are admitted into the AT language arts classes as sixth-graders will have social studies with the same group of pupils, Marciante said.

In addition, Marciante is following up on three directives he was given by the school board: to determine the cost for playgrounds at Lafayette Mills and Wemrock Brook, to determine the cost for television studios at Taylor Mills, Clark Mills and Milford Brook, and to determine the cost for the implementation of before-school care at Milford Brook, which will have the latest start time of any of the five grade one through five schools.

In a letter to residents posted on the school district's Internet Web site, Marciante said, "I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in this project. Through the significant contributions that the stakeholders made in the process, a plan was developed to meet the needs of our educational community."

The superintendent said he would meet with the Parent Advisory Committee "to focus on how the district should proceed with informing parents of the school their children will attend. … While I am aware that some of you (parents) will not be happy about this decision, please be assured that every effort will be made for an easy transition for all involved and to maintain our quality school system."

Marciante said the district's current enrollment stands at about 5,400 pupils. That is about the same number of children who attended school in the district in 2007-08. There were about 5,500 students enrolled in the district at the start of the 2006-07 school year.

Contact Mark Rosman at gmntnews@gmnews.com.