March 18, 2013

Special Board Meeting Review

Purpose: Proposed Housing Plan Presentation and Discussion

On Monday, March 18, the Deptford Township Board of Education held a special meeting at the high school for the presentation and discussion of a proposed housing plan. The meeting began at 7:00 PM in closed executive session and the public portion began at 8:05 PM with approximately 200 members of the public in attendance.

Assistant Superintendent Carolyn Morehead opened the public portion of the meeting with a 13-slide PowerPoint Presentation that lasted 30 minutes, detailing three different housing plans and their effects on the district and overcrowding. She began by saying that the closed session was only necessary to discuss personnel in regards to the various housing plan drafts. She also stated that Pre-K numbers were just a projection, as parents apply for Pre-K after the April deadline until as late as September of the new school year.

Plan A keeps the districting the same. Highlights of Plan A include:

  • Lake Tract remains overcrowded
  • Art and Music at Lake Tract are moved from a shared classroom to a cart
  • The Lake Tract Librarian moves to a cart during state PARCC testing and MAP Benchmark testing
  • Shady Lane Grade 5 surges to 27 students per class, OR
  • Shady Lane Kindergarten surges to 23 students per class, OR
  • The district must purchase a trailer for increased students at Shady Lane
  • Pine Acres and Central would continue to redistrict yearly based on enrollment
  • Special Education would become underutilized at Good Intent and Oak Valley

Plan B includes various changes to districting (see attachment) and is a 2-year implementation, pending a Pre-K waiver from the county superintendent. Plan B is also endorsed by Robin Wilkins from the NJDOE (Elizabeth Vaughn, who typically covers Gloucester County, is out on maternity leave). Highlights of Plan B include:

  • Opening 2 Rooms at Lake Tract
  • Opening 4 Rooms at Shady Lane

Plan C is a hybrid of plans A and B, with some changes to districting (see attachment). Plan C also opens 2 rooms at Lake Tract and 4 rooms at Shady Lane.

After Morehead’s presentation, there was a motion by the board to remove Plans B and C. The motion was seconded, but it did not carry. During this process, with several community members interjecting, the board president, along with other board members urging him to do so, hesitantly decided to allow public comments. Another board memberintroduced a fourth proposal that would break the elementary schools into two Early Childhood Centers through first grade, two Mid-Childhood Centers of grades 2-3, and two upper elementary schools of grades 4-6.

The public session lasted approximately 50 minutes from 8:50 – 9:40. Sixteen members of the public spoke, including parents, Deptford graduates, business owners, a Deptford resident and retired teacher, and the PTA president of one elementary school. All members of the public shared their concerns about the board’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to communicate openly with the community in regards to the proposed plans; the problems with redistricting, including transportation times, student mobility between buildings, and its effects on student learning and achievement; and the need for a more permanent solution for overcrowding in the district.

Superintendent Gary Loudenslager spoke in regard to overcrowding in Deptford Schools. He stated that within 18 months he would like to see a new demographic study done in the township and a bond referendum which includes a new sixth grade wing at Monongahela Middle School to permanently solve the problem of overcrowding.

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 PM.