School Board Passes Rezoning

By a vote of five to three, the South Orange Maplewood School Board passed a rezoning adjustment late Monday night that would force a few dozen elementary school children to switch schools. BOE President Mark Gleason, and board members Richard Laine and Lynne Crawford voted against the plan.

Superintendent Brian Osborne called the rezoning part of a "tough balance" between providing students continuity in their education and making sure schools don't overcrowd.

Around 20 residents turned out to watch the vote, less by 100 than were at last week's contentious meeting in which many parents expressed their ire at the board. 

The tone after the vote was that of resilient acceptance.

"It's emotional, I have mixed feelings," said Zena Hardy, a South Orange resident whose child is affected. "It will not be the end of the world and I will make it a positive experience. That's my job as a parent."

Under the rezoning plan, 36 students would transfer from Tuscan Elementary School to Clinton Elementary School and 47 would transfer from South Mountain School to Marshall and Jefferson schools. The streets impacted include portions of Plymouth Avenue, Burnett Terrace and Oakland Road in the Tuscan/Clinton area. Also portions of South Wyoming Ave., Collinwood Road, Crestwood Drive, Sunset Terrace, Colonial Terrace, New England Road, Evergreen Place, and Washington Park in the South Mountain/Jefferson district. (Update: The district has revised its numbers: after redistricting there will be a reduction of 30 students from Tuscan and 39 students from South Mountain—revised down by 2 after eliminating Audley. These numbers include transfer students but not incoming September kindergarten students.)

Only Maplewood Streets were rezoned. Audley Street in South Orange was taken out of the rezoning plan.

The board spent around two hours debating the merits of a grandfather clause that was first unveiled to the public last week. The clause would allow current second through fourth graders and their siblings to stay at Tuscan school as well as current third and fourth graders and their siblings plus first graders and their siblings for one year only to stay at South Mountain School.

A few on the board advocated eliminating much of the grandfather clause out of fear that the schools would soon overcrowd again. Others supported the clause as a compromise for parents who complained and a way to keep families together.

Most on the board agreed that the rezoning is merely a temporary solution to an overarching problem of having more students in less space in Maplewood and South Orange schools.

BOE President Mark J. Gleason said that because the rezoning shifts a relatively small number of students while all schools remain dangerously close to their capacity, building more space could be the only viable long-term solution.

"We're being very reluctant to build, because we are representing our taxpayers, but we're cutting it too close and leaving ourselves very little wiggle room," he said. "We're managing our budget with very little buffer now and we're managing our enrollment the same way."

Several parents expressed dismay and said they felt the board did not take adequate time to look at alternatives to rezoning. Eduardo Matos, 45, father of a Tuscan third-grader who will not be affected thanks to the grandfather clause, railed at the board.

"You are rushing the process," he said. "There are people who fight for dolphins, people who fight for forests, we are just fighting for the right school for our kids."

Kirk Fitzsimons, father of a third grader at Tuscan, argued that because the board based its proposals on projected enrollments, which are often inaccurate, it is unwise to meddle so deeply with individual families for a somewhat minor balancing of students across the district.

"Candidly," he said, "It's not super clear that the consequences are clear to all of you."

Still, board members argued that negative consequences for Tuscan and South Mountain schools were imminent if the board did not act.

"Changes that need to happen in the future don't  preclude changes that need to happen now," said student representative Seth Wolin. 

Finally, not to be overlooked, while most towns in New Jersey are voting on school budgets today, the South Orange Maplewood BOE quietly, after midnight adopted the 2010-2011 school budget for South Orange and Maplewood residents.