Closing school not an option, residents say

Does it make sense to spend more than $1 million a year just to keep West Belmar Elementary School open?

If you're one of more than 100 residents who filled the Intermediate School's cafe seats on Tuesday night for the Board of Education meeting, the answer is undoubtedly "yes.''

But the board, faced with a $3 million shortfall in state aid this year and little reason to think that's going to improve in the next, is not convinced. 

So after a marathon session lasting until nearly midnight, the board took an 8-1 vote to spend $13,000 on a study to explore whether closing the town's oldest school can be done with little disruption to its remaining schools.

"We're not the enemy,'' said board president Deidre Kukuck, just prior to opening the nearly three-hour public comment period of the meeting. "We're members of the community. No one wants to close a school. This is a very hard decision.''

The vote was taken just before midnight, long after most who had already gotten a chance to voice an opinion, direct a question or levy a criticism against the board had done so.

Board member Eva Applegate cast the lone vote against the measure to award Middletown-based T & M Associates a contract to explore the effect of closing West Belmar.

Schools Business Administrator Brian Smyth said T & M should have its project -- which includes a demographic study, student mapping and redistricting analysis -- wrapped up by the end of February. They will then present the findings to the board, Smyth said.

Melanie Giblin, one of the organizers of a West Belmar parents' group formed against the possible closure, said her heart sank when she saw the resolution to hire T & M on the agenda. She had not expected that.

Still, she said, she was happy to see the large number of people who had come out to the meeting to voice their concerns. 

"I think they're open to new ideas,'' Giblin said of the board. "But I don't know if they're open to putting them in motion.''

One after another, residents filed up to a small podium, speaking glowingly of West Belmar School, about the neighborhood that it anchors and the community spirit it bolsters.

"There's something intangible about our neighborhood and our community that is not going to show up on T & M's study,'' said West Belmar resident Jesse Evans. "This is more than a money issue.'' 

One after another, residents filed up to a small podium and questioned the board's wisdom and its motives.

"Do you think it's a reasonable expectation to destroy a community?'' asked 17th Avenue resident Michael McArthur.

The bottom line

Last year, Gov. Chris Christie chopped $3 million in state aid from its budget. Then, voters rejected the district's spending plan, putting the budget in the hands of the Township Committee which, following the lead of voters, hacked another nearly $750,000, board members said.

Looking strictly at numbers, the board had found during its own feasibility study that was conducted by its finance and facilities committee that West Belmar School's cost per pupil was nearly $2,000 more than the three other elementary schools, according to a report given at the top of the meeting by board member Doug Wild. 

The cost to educate a pupil at West Belmar is $9,750 a year, compared to $7,656 at Central School, Wild said.

All the results of the feasibility study completed by the finance and facilities committee was promised to be on the district's web site today.

Factoring in the cost of running the building and the savings from eliminating teachers, administrators and staff, the district could potentially save upwards of $1 million a year.

"It's the kind of strong saver we need,'' Wild said.

But residents questioned whether the board had exhausted its other options, like privatizing bus and janitorial services before going headlong into closing a school. Smyth, business administrator, said those savings were "not big ticket items,'' and therefore insufficient to offset the district's budget woes.

But Dan Manson, former board member and Minnehaha resident, said the board should explore more deeply each of the smaller items to come up with the million before it thought about closing a school.

"You put up a budget that finds all the little $100,000 savings from this and that and we'll make sure it gets passed,'' Manson said.