A number of Tuscan Elementary School parents, alarmed at the prospect that their children will no longer be zoned for the school come September, have drafted a petition asking school district leadership to consider other options.

The parents also plan to show up in force at the next Board of Education meeting on March 22.

Superintendent of schools Brian Osborne announced in February that, due to overcrowding at Tuscan Elementary and South Mountain Elementary, the district would be rezoning elementary schools to assure even class sizes throughout the district, specifically in the lower grades which are absorbing a baby boomlet.

Implicit in the rezoning is the idea that Tuscan and South Mountain families would be shifted to other school zones. Some parents at Tuscan had strongly complained when they found their kindergartners were in classes of 23 or 24 students last fall as opposed to the standard 20.

Under the school district's current rezoning plan, a presentation with suggestions for implementation will be given at the next Board of Education meeting on March 22. A community forum/public workshop will be held at 7 p.m. on April 12, and the Board is scheduled to vote on a resolution on April 19. By the end of April, mailings would be sent out to affected families, and transfer requests for the 2010-2011 school year would be given consideration.

[The school district has set up an email address to accept parents' complaints and suggestions related to rezoning. Comments may be sent to enrollment@somsd.k12.nj.us.]

This is not sitting well with a number of Tuscan parents.

"Nobody's denying there aren't issues," said Kris Knutsen, parent of a Tuscan first grader and two preschool-age children. "But basically we are saying this would be very disruptive. Before we do it, let's look at these other options."

Over the past two weeks, a group of Tuscan parents, including Knutsen, his wife Sara, Ruth Kalbitzer, Jonathan Beemer, Gabrielle Graziano and Lauren Bright Pacheco, have been organizing to protest the rezoning and present alternatives. The group drafted a petition which about ten parents took door to door this past weekend. Kris Knutsen braved the driving rain on Saturday and garnered 38 signatures on one block of Plymouth Avenue alone. Bright Pacheco rounded up 60 signatures on Courter Avenue. In all, 203 signatures were gathered.

"Everyone signed," said Knutsen. "Some needed explaining, but everyone was happy that we are organizing." He added, "We had older folks remembering rezoning 13, 14 years ago and feeling badly for us." Knutsen said he also broke the news to a number of people: Some parents of young children or newcomers to the neighborhood were not even aware of the rezoning. "And Tuscan was a driver in their choice to live here."

The petition reads, "Rezoning is a drastic step with serious repercussions for many families. At a minimum, the community needs more time to reconsider alternative solutions and to make personal adjustments." The petition asks that the Board of Education consider that "families and children have invested significant time in their local schools," including forming friendships, participating in the PTA and becoming affiliated with extracurricular groups centered around the school such as Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts.

The petition also asks that the BOE consider a number of options such as encouraging voluntary transfers out of district, adding portables, creating a kindergarten hub for kindergarten overflow, re-registering students in the district to ensure residency, and offering a half-day kindergarten option at overcrowded schools.

Also included is a suggestion to re-examine variances whereby the district can allow students from outside the Tuscan zone to attend Tuscan for various reasons. Knutsen said that it seems unfair to allow students from outside the district to attend Tuscan when children who live in the Tuscan zone are being moved out. "They may have very good reasons" to seek a variance, Knutsen said, but those reasons should not trump residency.

These Tuscan parents are also concerned that, should they be rezoned for Clinton, their children would then attend South Orange Middle School and not Maplewood Middle School. South Orange Middle School, located north of South Orange Avenue on Ridgewood Road, is about two miles from the northern edge of the current Tuscan zone. Although parents can apply for variances to send their children to MMS, these variances are not always granted.

Knutsen said that Millburn has been discussing rezoning (or redistricting) for three years and is, he feels, undertaking a more transparent process than the current rezoning effort in Maplewood and South Orange, which is taking place over a period of less than two months.

The Tuscan group that drafted the petition has also drafted a letter to Superintendent Osborne that they are making available to other parents to customize and send on their own. To obtain a copy of the petition and the letter, email the group.