February 8, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 11 Franklin Lakes Study may lead to restructuring of schools by Frank J. McMahon A year-long study of the impact of declining enrollment on the Franklin Lakes School District may result in a restructuring of the borough’s public elementary schools. That possibility was explained at a community forum held at the Franklin Avenue Middle School last week. About 180 parents and residents attended the meeting, which was led by the board of education’s Efficiency Committee. Presenter Grace Abernathy, a member of the Efficiency Committee and an accountant and transportation coordinator in the district for the past nine years, explained how the committee was formed and the process it followed in researching various methods of structuring elementary schools. The committee was formed in January 2011 by Superintendent Frank Romano who explained in a handout that, faced with declining enrollment, reduced funding, and the growing academic demands placed on the district by the state, the committee was asked to study issues, practices, and possibilities, and make recommendations to the superintendent and board of education. The committee, which consists of school district parents, board of education members, teachers, Parent Teacher Association presidents, district educators, and the district’s business administrator, met monthly during the past year. The group researched several options to address the anticipated continuing enrollment decline and to improve program instruction consistency in all the elementary schools. The committee studied district operations, best practices, and ways to improve student achievement. During the study, the committee conducted site visits to Ramsey, Mahwah, and Chatham, which currently use a school configuration known as the Modified Princeton Model, which involves modifying K-5 school configurations by converting buildings into grade K-3 and grade 4-5 schools. Romano advised that district enrollment began to decline shortly after Colonial Road School re-opened. He said the district had 932 children in grades K-5 in 2005, but today there are 804 children in K-5, with 286 at the Woodside Avenue School, 284 at the Colonial Road School, and 234 at the High Mountain Road School. This decline, he said, translates into fewer classroom sections at all three schools. In 2007, Romano pointed out, there were 55 K-5 classroom sections across the district, while today there are 45 sections. Currently, there are many grade levels across the district with only two sections, he added. “Looking ahead,” Romano stated, “this year’s district-wide kindergarten population of 94 students is projected to be 116 children by the time they are in the fifth grade in comparison to the current fifth grade class of 156 students.” Romano stated further that the committee observed that, if there is no change in the school district’s current structure and/ or district boundaries, many classes will be reduced to two sections in a building as the current grades K-3 age out. In addition, some grade levels will be at risk of being reduced to one section in a building in the upper grades when class size policy increases. He added that the committee found that the drop in enrollment, and enrollment differences between buildings, result in operational inefficiencies in human resources, program and instruction, class size, execution of professional development, and an increased chance of grade-to-grade and building-to-building teacher transfers. Most of the forum was devoted to answering about 100 questions, some of which were submitted in writing before the meeting. Many questions pertained to how the district would implement a change in the structure of the elementary schools, how it would affect busing, and the scheduling of classes at the different school buildings. However, the answers to all those questions were deferred until the committee makes a formal recommendation to the board of education and the school board confers with the district’s administration and ultimately makes a decision on whatever change it intends to make. Superintendent Romano and Kathie Schwartz, the president of the board of education, emphasized that a decision on restructuring the elementary schools would not be made until the committee makes a recommendation to the board of education after a survey of the community is taken in February. Then the board will work with the administration to determine the appropriate next steps in the process, which could include further careful study of the matter, or the development of a detailed transition plan and a transition timeline. The update handout pointed out that “a clear majority of the committee is excited about the possibilities for our district which would come from a transition to a Modified Princeton Plan (which) entails modifying our existing three K-5 school configuration by converting two buildings into K-3 schools and one building into a 4-5 grade school.” School officials explained that the drop in enrollment in the district was due to an aging population in the borough and the fact that housing in the borough has become less affordable to younger families. In response (continued on next page)