A report to the community
on the proposed Millburn Township
School Bond Referendum.
Three
members of our Board of Education, each with children
in the public schools,
have publicly
stated their opposition
to the Board of Education’s proposed $40+ million bond
referendum – What do they know that you should know?
What is the overall Issue?
The Administration's proposed $40+ million bond referendum
is an irresponsible and unacceptable 'all or nothing' approach
that has an unnecessarily high risk of failure. While there
will always be a need for some investment in Township schools,
the cost requested this year of $40+ million is not required.
There are time and cost effective alternatives that exist and
in some cases the Superintendent of Millburn Schools has even
acknowledged these alternatives. The Board of Education and
the School Administration need to present the community with
these alternatives in a thoughtfully researched and cost documented
analysis. And this needs to be done in a timely manner. If
they would agree to reconsider their own alternatives, such
an analysis could be completed in a few short weeks, if not
in a few days.
What are the specific issues?
The primary issue facing
the school system today is congestion at the Middle School
(not the
High School). However, this is
an issue that must be solved now, not three to four years from
now, as the Board of Education’s plan proposes.
The Board of Education could have already resolved the congestion
issues at the Middle School if they had not been so narrowly
focused on a massive construction effort without seriously
considering other options. Instead of resolving the congestion
problem now when it is required, the Board is trying to pursue
an extraordinarily disruptive and expensive solution that will
not be ready until 2008 or 2009. During the next three to four
years of the proposed construction, the educational environment
of the Middle School will be adversely affected, and safety
will be compromised. This will affect approximately 2,000 students
that will pass through the Middle School during the proposed
construction period. There are better solutions than the proposed
massive Middle School construction, but such solutions can
only be achieved if the Board is creative and open-minded.
The Board of Education is aware of alternative solutions but
adamantly refuses to provide the community with even a modest
analysis of any of these alternatives.
Just recently the Superintendent finally admitted that one
option, retaining the 6th grade in the elementary schools,
could be completed at a fraction of the cost and much more
quickly. While this is just one solution, it is a simple solution.
Like so many other solutions, it was categorically rejected,
and a cost analysis was never completed. This alternative alone
would be time and cost effective and would avoid disruption
at the Middle School. It is a solution that is implemented
in many other New Jersey communities and in the past, K–6 was
the standard grade configuration in Millburn. Other solutions
also exist, but again the Board has not made even a modest
attempt at providing a cost analysis for these other solutions
either.
It is the absolute responsibility of the Board to provide
alternatives and to begin to develop a well thought out back-up
plan given the likelihood that this bond referendum will fail
in December.
Alternatives should include, but not be limited to, grade
reconfiguration, less intrusive construction, utilization of
permanent modular
building systems, improved utilization of existing facilities
and the use of the Board of Education facility and other existing
Township properties. The next three months, October–December,
must not be wasted. The Board needs to develop alternative
solutions and back-up plans that will be completed one to two
years earlier than the currently proposed construction plan.
The community, as we know
it, is not against spending money on our schools. However,
it will not support an ill-conceived,
high risk, no alternatives plan.
What many in the community
are simply asking the Board to do is come forth with alternatives
that they know exist — solutions
that are both time and cost effective and make the most sense
for our school system.
As current Board of Education member
Brenda White said when she voted against this bond referendum
in May — “I
handed out flyers at the train station to get residents to
vote for the last bond referendum but this bond referendum
is just not the same”. Many residents and members of
the organization that completed this report agree with her
sentiment.
What is the biggest misconception?
The great misconception is that the High School and the Middle
School (particularly the Middle School) are overcrowded.
While
there are in fact specific areas of congestion in both schools,
the crowding is limited to specific areas and most
importantly classrooms are not overcrowded. Based
on New Jersey State Department of Education capacity data,
both
schools actually have some excess capacity and will continue
to have excess capacity for a number of years. What must
be addressed are localized congestion issues. These types of
issues
do not cost $40+ million and take three to four years to fix.
These are some of the facts that you should know:
- The High School and Middle School are currently operating
18% and 7% below 'functional capacity'*, respectively.
This means, that based on State guidelines, each school has
capacity to handle 18% and 7% more students.
- Both schools will be operating below functional capacity
for the next several years — four years for Middle School
and six years for the High School. Again, based on these
State guidelines both schools have room for more students
and will continue to have room for several years.
- The Middle School and High School are anticipated to
exceed functional capacity by a maximum of only 50 to 125
students over the next four to six years.
Based on these numbers, the projected overcapacity at the
Middle
and High School is actually very small.
- Schools can operate above functional capacity. Livingston
did not propose new construction until its high school
was operating 10% above its functional capacity. As pointed
out earlier, Millburn is operating 18% below functional capacity,
not 10% above.
- The current construction plan adds capacity
for at least 600 students yet our school district only
projects a capacity
shortage of less than 200 and most of that shortage does
not occur until the next decade.
While both secondary schools are operating within their respective
'functional capacity', the congestion issue at the Middle School
needs to be addressed earlier than the Administration's plan
provides for. Based on the demographic studies, the situation
at the Middle School is projected to get somewhat worse, with
enrollment peaking in 2009 and then beginning to improve. The
High School should see enrollment exceeding functional capacity
in 2011, peaking in 2013 and then declining thereafter. For
more information on the demographics issues affecting Millburn
schools, please go to the following WeLoveMillburn.com links
for past reports:
*Functional capacity is a NJDOE provided calculation that
incorporates a 10% and 15% 'margin of safety' below
the Middle School and High School total capacity, respectively.
(See Table, below)
What is this report's reasonable conclusion and recommendation?
The lack of in-depth analysis and use of questionable demographic
studies has led to a serious division of community support
for the Board of Education's proposed school construction plan.
While other options clearly exist, it is the absolute responsibility
of the Board of Education and the Administration to research,
document and present such options to the community and in a
timely manner. Is the community to believe the Board of Education
and School Administration when they say there are no acceptable
options? The answer is NO.
Three Board members have already
expressed their opposition to this ill-conceived $40+ million
plan, but sadly, the other
members of the Board of Education adamantly continue to refuse
to offer alternatives. Even more disappointing, they seem
to feel no obligation to offer any immediate solution to the
Middle
School congestion issues. Instead they remain focused on
a plan that will take three to four years to complete and could
well cause the quality of this community's school system
to go backwards, not forward, during this time.
For the sake
of moving this process forward towards solutions that will
benefit our schools and community, citizens need
to speak up and be heard. There is one and only one opportunity
to express the community’s displeasure with the Board
of Education, the School Administration and their ill-conceived
construction plan — and that is at the polls in December.
The more you know, the more you'll vote NO.
This report has
been compiled and written by the Referendum Task Force,
which is part of the new, grassroots, non-profit,
informational group, WeLoveMillburn.com. The report is
based upon several hundred man/woman hours of research
and study
of everything that has been presented or discussed by the
current Board of Education and the School Administration.
We believe: per
student graduated, no town in New Jersey has spent as much
money on its school system during the past 10 years as
Millburn. There are already more than 1,000 residents who
support the
bond referendum issues raised by WeLoveMillburn.com. We
have always been totally committed to the future success
of our
town and certainly to our children's education. We support
Millburn education. We believe in spending the right amount,
not any amount, on a well-conceived plan to address the
needs of the students.
WeLoveMillburn.com
October 9, 2005
