District Watches Charter School Applications

The Millburn School District is closely watching two applications for charter schools that would offer Mandarin immersion for elementary school students, potentially luring students away from the district at a cost to taxpayers.

Millburn Superintendent James Crisfield told the Board of Education and the audience at its meeting Monday night he is planning an information session May 9 with other districts that could be affected by the charter schools.

“So we can all understand what happens if one or both of these charter schools is approved by Trenton,” he said, adding that he is inviting officials from districts that already have charter schools to hear about the lessons they learned.

"The way charter schools are funded could have a significant  impact on the district's budget, he said. “It could cost us a significant amount of money.”

Charter schools are funded mostly by the school districts that they serve. Each district pays 90 percent of the costs for each student from the district that opts to go the charter school.

“In failing districts, charter schools can give kids a fair shake,” Crisfield said. But in top-rated districts like Millburn, it becomes strictly a budget issue, he said.

According to the charter school applications filed with the New Jersey Department of Education, the two schools with applications pending in this area are The Hanyu International Academy Charter in Livingston, which would serve Millburn, Short Hills and Livingston and the Hua Mei Charter School, which would serve Millburn, South Orange, Maplewood, West Orange and Union. Both schools are described as schools for kindergarten through second grade.

Board member Scott Kamber said it was too early to be so concerned about the charter schools because there’s a difference between “serving” a district and actually getting any students to from that district to leave their schools.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Kamber said. “It’s a tremendous leap to go from an application to students leaving the top district in the state to attend. I believe the application includes Millburn to try to sell it to families in West Orange or Maplewood by saying you can go to school with students from Millburn schools.

“I don’t know how many people would pay to live in this community and send their kids to a charter school.”

In some districts, it can mean millions of district dollars a year spent on students who don’t go to district schools.

Carolyn Most, a parent of a kindergartner, said she, too, is concerned about charter schools coming into the area.

“They tend to suck the public schools dry,” she said. “And I don’t want to see that happen here.”

In other news from the meeting:

• Dr. Christine Burton presented the results of a consultant's analysis of last year's NJASK scores that showed Millburn's general education and special education students had performed well on the tests, but that there "is room for improvement." The district plans to "tweak" its curriculum to include teaching more test-taking skills to help improve multiple choice answers and reduce anxiety about test taking.
• Board Member Sam Levy reported that the district and the teacher's union have not come to any agreements on pay and health benefits and will meet again in May, after everyone returns from Spring Break.
• Board Member Lise Chapman announced that the distict does not have money for the annual retirement party this year. She made an appeal to the community, hoping that someone might  pick up the tab, especially since some long-time employees are retiring, including popular MMS guidance counselor John Rogers  after 39 years.
• The board presented outgoing board member Kamber with a plaque for his six years of service to the schools and the community, lauding his dedication and passion and teasing him about his ability to stretch out a meeting. Former board member Josh Scharf, a meeting regular, also presented Kamber with a framed picture of someone he jokingly claimed was Kamber (it turned out to be Joey Buttafuoco of Long Island Lolita fame.) Not to disappoint, Kamber spent several minutes thanking everyone and discussing some of the highlights of the last six years, including hiring Crisfield. "I am confident as I leave that the district is in capable hands with the board and the administration."

Marilyn Lehren contributed to this report.