WASHINGTON TWP. — A volunteer group commissioned by the Washington Township school board presented the results Tuesday night of a three-month long study that considered five scenarios to redistrict the schools' enrollment.
In Scenario 1, the district would close the ECC and move the kindergarten students to their neighborhood elementary schools. While there would be a savings of $650,000 by closing the ECC, other costs would occur because there wouldn’t be enough room in the six elementary schools to house grades K-5. Specifically, Bells, Birches and Whitman would be short, and Thomas Jefferson would have one extra room.
In Scenario 2, the group considered closing the ECC and moving the kindergarten students to Thomas Jefferson Elementary which has the lowest population, and also the highest percentage of economically-disadvantaged students at 34 percent. Elementary students would then be redistributed through the other schools. While this plan would disperse the economically-disadvantaged students throughout the district, there’d be greater transportation costs — and likely emotional costs — to send the TJ students elsewhere.
In Scenario 3, the district would keep all schools open and realign the economically disadvantaged students so the proportions are more even throughout the six elementary schools. Currently, only about 9 percent of the students at Wedgwood fit that category, while the number is 20 percent at Bells and 34 percent at TJ. Such a move could be considered discriminatory, the task force said, also noting that the new transportation routes wouldn’t result in any significant savings.
In Scenario 4, the district would close the ECC and reconfigure the six elementary schools to make half of them K-2 and the other three 3-5. The “sister schools” that currently are paired up to feed into the middle schools would stay partnered. While there would be better teacher articulation and a savings for closing the ECC, there would be costs to move the grades and programs, costs for parents to provide childcare to arrange for the staggered hours, and possible costs on building expansions since some of the 3-5 schools would be close to capacity.
In Scenario 5, the district would close the ECC and move the kindergarten students to Thomas Jefferson. Those who walk to TJ would stay there, and those who take a bus would be moved to another elementary school. However, there would be a higher number of economically disadvantaged students at TJ still, and not enough room for growth if kindergarten enrollment fluctuates.
Read the Gloucester County Times tomorrow to find out the board's opinion and get the full story.