Glenwood students on bus routes 9 and 11 could be headed to Deerfield Elementary School in the fall.

Schools Supt. Richard Brodow during Monday night's Board of Education meeting presented details on a plan to redistrict elementary schools to alleviate crowding at Glenwood. The board was not to vote on the plan Monday night, and a decision would need to be made by May 1.

The recommended plan would send students on those bus routes—which follows Hobart, Marion, part of Highland Avenue, Whitney, Hawthorne, Idlewild, Midhearst, Haddon Field and Iverness Court—to Deerfield.

The plan affects 61 children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. Rising fifth graders would be able to stay at Glenwood, and siblings would not be separated.

The plan reduces the number of sections at Glenwood and provides two additional classrooms and increases the number of sections at Deerfield by two.

Brodow said his mission was to save two sections while finding a school with the space. Deerfield is at 75 percent of capacity while Glenwood is at 110 percent. The plan would give Glenwood breathing room with the potential to remove the portable classrooms over time, he said. Meanwhile, Deerfield can absorb the students while not losing its special classrooms and keeping class size at a favorable level.

"Change is never easy, particularly if it affects your child," Brodow said. He cited how redistricting has happened at least twice before in Millburn-Short Hills and happens throughout New Jersey.

Glenwood Principal David Jasin said he understands how families feel because he has a connection to each one from the 10 years he's been principal. But the size of the school population has a negative impact on the instruction at Glenwood.

"Instruction time is being lost and that is not acceptable," he said. "There is a certain level of education every student deserves... We shouldn't settle for less because we don't want to make change. We do need to do something. It's been mounting... It's not blips on a screen."

There also are crowds in the common areas and there are safety concerns there, Jasin said. He is filling out accident reports from kids tripping over cellos because the only place they can practice is in the faculty room. There are 18 cellos stored in a 10-foot by 12-foot room.

He invited parents to make appointments or call him to talk about redistricting.

Brodow said he looked at options other than redistricting. One was to move the two portable classrooms at Millburn Middle School to Glenwood. But Glenwood already has two portable classrooms, Brodow said. Also, only special sections would be able to take place in the rooms, which would mean people would be in and out of the room all day. Also, the building would still be overcrowded.

Brodow said he considered raising class sizes to reduce the number of sections, but he found that would cause more serious problems.

Board President Noreen Brunini said the board needs to discuss what happens next and it's a discussion that would be referred to the Property Committee. The board has the right to approve, reject or table the plan, but that decision wouldn't come for at least 30-60 days, she said.

There was a long line of parents at the microphone expressing displeasure with the redistricting plan, many of them saying there must be an alternative plan. There was a crowd of about 150 people including parents and staff at the meeting.

One topic that came up often was the Morris Turnpike apartment buildings and the number of students coming from there. Parents suggested those students should be the ones who are redistricted. One mother said there are 34 students living in the apartments, and of those 26 students are new to the district.

Brodow said he did look at the apartments and did not believe it provided a long-term solution. The numbers didn't work, he said.

He also said he didn't differentiate between apartments and single-family homes, between homes that cost over $1 million and those that are lesser. That would be a difficult conversation, he said, and it shouldn't be part of the redistricting discussion. Who is redistricted shouldn't be determined by class, home values or where someone lives.

For nearly two hours parents expressed their concerns about the proposal Brodow presented. Many also said they wanted to help find an alternative plan.

Steven Cohen, of Hobart Avenue, said his third grader would be affected and she has a tremendous amount of time invested in Glenwood. He believes that the plan would not help because it would save two rooms when Glenwood needs three or four rooms saved.

While some students would be moving, they wouldn't be the only ones affected. Their friends left behind would be breaking up their relationships too. "There must be a less intrusive change," he said.

Stephanie Nesser said the plan seems to be the easy solution instead of the smarter, long-term one. She questioned why the plan didn't have Glenwood students moving to Hartshorn Elementary School and Hartshorn students moving to Deerfield.

"You should be promoting neighborhood schools rather than busing clear across Short Hills," she said.

Nicole Cohen-Richter, of Hobart Avenue, said her family spent time looking for a home so her children could attend Glenwood. "We really want to stay," she said. "We made sacrifices to purchase our home."

But board members had a range of opinions, some not willing to accept what Brodow had presented although they believe something should be done.

Lise Chapman, a board member, said she was uncomfortable with the numbers and wasn't in favor of the plan. She wants to see a committee formed to anlayze the numbers and come up with a better redistricting plan.

Michael Birnberg, board member and Property Committee chairman, said no matter what is proposed, someone will be affected and will be upset. The board and administration  needs to find a happy medium.

Both board Vice President Scott Kamber and Sam Levy said parents should be able to present their own versions of redistricting plans. Both said a packet of information should be available to the community for residents to attempt to create their own plans.

"There is no perfect solution, but there may be a better plan that we haven't thought of," Kamber said.

Levy warned the people who do take up the issue to create their own plan that they need to consider a variety of issues. Those issues include class size, bussing issues and special needs students. Those issues have brought enough people to fill rooms with their concerns, he said.

Kamber said a committee wouldn't complete a plan in time for May 1, which is when the board wants a plan to be completed. The board has made the promise to complete the process before the new superintendent takes over.

Kamber and Brunini also commended Brodow on taking up a controversial, unpopular topic in his final months as Millburn's superintendent. Both said he could have said nothing should be done.