Freehold Borough Public Schools (K-8)

FREEHOLD BOROUGH
PUBLIC SCHOOLS (K-8)
PR ESENTATION TO THE PTO MEMB ER S
THUR SDAY, AUGUST 2 8 , 2 0 1 4
ROC C O TOMA ZIC , ED.D.
SUPER I NTEND ENT
OUR STUDENTS
• Enrollment (9/4/14): 1,658
• 1,644 in district
• 14 out of district
• Ethnic/racial breakdown:
•
•
•
•
•
Hispanic – 70.3%
White – 16.64%
Black – 10.53%
Asian – 1.41%
Others – 1.12%
• Free/reduced lunch: 69.1%
OUR SCHOOLS
• Freehold Borough Schools
• Freehold Intermediate School (6-8)
• Park Ave Elementary School (PK-5)
• Freehold Learning Center (PK-5)
• Off site rentals:
• West Freehold Elementary – 4 classes
• Marshall Errickson – 2 classes (starting September 2014)
• District functional building capacity: 1,148
• Currently 496 unhoused students
• 150 in Freehold Township
• 346 squeezed into library/admin space with high class
sizes
OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS
• Rise to high school (9-12) to:
• Freehold Regional High School District
• Monmouth County VoTech School District
• K-8 sending districts to FRHSD and 14/15 per student
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Colts Neck
Farmingdale
Freehold Twp
Howell
Marlboro
Manalapan/Englishtown
Freehold Borough
$20,786
$16,235
$15,841
$14,558
$14,304
$13,577
$11,462
DFG I
DFG D/E
DFG G/H
DFG F/G
DFG I
DFG G/H
DFG B
2013 DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY
ACTUAL ENROLLMENTS
School Year
Projected
2012-2013
2013-2014
1,515
2014-2015
1,579
2015-2016
1,629
2016-2017
1,647
2017-2018
1,659
Actual
9/21/2012
1,526
6/24/2013
1,547
9/20/2013
1,570
5/30/2014
1,586
(9/4/14)
1,644
.
STUDENT GROWTH
Enrollment
250
200
228
196
184
174 168 178
148
150
159
130
Enrollment
100
50
0
K
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
FREEHOLD INTERMEDIATE
SCHOOL INCREASE
2014-2015: 437
2015-2016: 485
2016-2017: 494
2017-2018: 520
FREEHOLD LEARNING CENTER
FLC FLOOR PLAN
FIS/PAE
FIS/PAE PLAN B FLOOR PLAN
EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTION
• Three years to build
• 2014-2015 – planning, bidding, construction (year 1)
• 2015-2016 – construction (year 2)
• 2016-2017 – construction (year 3)
• 2017-2018 – ready for students
• Upon completion
• New functional capacity of 1,581 (current 1,148)
• 98% of current needs
• 95% of projected enrollment of 1,659
REFERENDUM ASSUMPTIONS
•
2014 Total Borough Assessed
Valuation: $1,052,933,800
•
Assessed Valuation Growth: None
•
2014 Assessed Valuation of Average
Home: $255,600
•
State Aid For Debt Service: 38.02%
•
Bonds Term: 30 Years
•
Bond Structure: Wrap-Around
Existing Debt
•
Bond Borrowing Rate: 4.00%
TAX IMPACT
Project
Per $100K
$ 32,902,400 $109
Per Average Home($255.6K)
$278
FIVE QUESTIONS
The five most
commonly asked
questions we hear
around the Boro
about a school
construction
referendum
COMMON QUESTION 1
• Question: Why not merge with Freehold Township?
• Things to consider:
• Both Twp and Boro would need to approve
• Might save some administrative costs and rent
• All Boro teachers would get a raise in pay to meet higher
Twp pay (NJ rules on mergers)
• Boro would take on proportion of Twp debt
• Taxes would not necessarily go down
• Answer: Even if a desired option in both the Boro and
Twp, the costs would likely exceed the cost of just the
Boro referendum.
COMMON QUESTION 2
• Question: Why should the Boro pay for immigrant
students?
• Things to consider:
• School district can’t ask immigration status, by law
• NJ law entitles resident students to an education
• Boro only has 22 immigrant students (arrived last 3 years)
• Low number of students without health insurance
• Answer: All students proving they reside in Freehold
Boro are entitled to a free and appropriate public
education, as guaranteed by the NJ Constitution
COMMON QUESTION 3
• Question: The voters turned down a referendum in 2005 by
a big margin, why waste the money asking again?
• Things to consider:
• Continued overcrowding may results in split sessions
• It is unlikely that families would be attracted to live in a
community where the schools are severely overcrowded
• Only the voters can approve a referendum to access state aid
• The board has a responsibility to provide a thorough and
efficient education
• Answer: The voters deserve the option of deciding to pay
more taxes or degrading educational programs
COMMON QUESTION 4
• Question: Why should Freehold voters take on more debt
when the state doesn’t provide the proper amount of state
aid for the operating budget?
•Things to consider:
•
•
•
•
Nearly 50% of Boro operating budget from NJDOE
Boro over $7M under adequacy
State legislators continue to advocate for the Boro
Education Law Center has featured the Boro’s underfunded
status
• Answer: Even if the proper state aid were provided the
district would still have to build more space to address the
needs of its students.
COMMON QUESTION 5
• Question: Why do anything, can’t you just keep renting
instructional space here and there?
• Things to consider:
• We are year-to-year with the extra space in Freehold Twp
• Other districts with spare capacity have declined to take
our students
• Use of rented space or space in other non public schools
must be brought up to NJDOE standards, the cost of which
comes out of the operating budget.
• Answer: Speculating on the space that might be available
does not address the actual students in district. If there
was really usable space available we would have rented it
already, but we keep looking.
MOBILIZING VOTERS
•Maximizing voter interest in the schools
•Finding new voters
•Vibrancy of the community
•Registration deadline Sept 9th
•Presenting school issues to parents
•Preventing large class sizes
•Equity with surrounding districts
•Avoiding split sessions
•Presenting school issues to non parents
•Relation of school quality to property value
•Attracting families with school-aged
children.
BORO STUDENTS –
A GOOD INVESTMENT
•
1st and 2nd place in NJ
for Stock Market Game
(elementary)
•
NJHS grants from
Peter Jay Sharp
Foundation
•
8th grade virtual
Holocaust museum
•
Seth’s essay
THE REFERENDUM
Tuesday
September 30, 2014
2pm – 9pm