Schools

Board of Education Discusses Busing, Projects and Strategic Planning

Busing program exceeds enrollment expectations; district getting ready for school to start.

updated: 7:22 p.m. with more specific numbers

At a 20-minute Millburn Board of Education Meeting Tuesday, board members learned that 1,918 students have signed up for  and that the administration is working on bus routes. Of those numbers, 1,174 will pay the subsciption fee and 744 will have their fees waived. 

The issue has been a and opponents predicted that the district would get too few riders to justify the expense, and board members have expressed relief that the number of has .

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Bus passes were mail last week and the district is still taking applications.

The board also approved the transportation contracts for the school year with its bus companies - $1,096,523 to Barker Bus Company and $29,321 to First Student.

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Not all of that expense is for students bused within the Millburn and Short Hills -- it also covers students bused to private schools.

are $580 per child with a cap of $1,160 per family.

The board also discussed student enrollment. The district won't have preliminary figures until the first week of school, and final figures used for budgeting, won’t be determined until October 15. Meanwhile, in some grades in some schools the numbers were up. The district had to hire a new 2nd Grade teacher at Glenwood Elementary, where there are 96 students in the grade, in order to provide an additional class to meet the need.

In the remaining couple of weeks of summer, the School District is making its final preparations for another year of school, with hiring and training new 20 new teachers, implementing the new state, registering students and finishing construction projects around the district.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Crisfield said the Hartshorn School is  undergoing a slab stabilization project, which will be completed by Sept. 1. Other projects include repairs to the High School parking lot so that it can’t be mistaken for an ice rink in the winter, and the $60,000 sale (and removal) of the at the Middle School.

"Yay," exclaimed Board Member Regina Truitt, referring to the removal of the trailers.

Board Member Jean Pasternak invited other members of the board to meet with board members of the Palo Alto School District to discuss that district's stategic plan.

Pasternak has been talking with Palo Alto board members because the District is similar to Millburn-Short Hills and has "an excellent strategic plan."

"They are happy to talk with us," she said. "I think it would help to go through the process and what they went through."


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