School board, parents object to closure

VERNON — Discussion regarding closing a building continued at the work session of the Vernon Township Board of Education last Thursday, as Acting Superintendent Art DiBenedetto gave a second presentation on his concept of closing Cedar Mountain Primary School.

He reiterated some of his original points, saying that there would be no loss of staff due to the change, and that the quality of education would not suffer.

“I have heard a lot of the worries that have come out of this proposal,” he said. “I’ve been an educator for 43 years. Working with kids and teachers is vital to my existence. I would never make a recommendation that would hurt kids or hurt teachers.”

His plan would close Cedar Mountain, the smallest school in the district and redistribute the students, with Rolling Hills Primary School taking grades 2-3, Lounsberry Hollow and Glen Meadow splitting grades 4-7, and the high school would have grades 8-12. The only school that would stay the same is Walnut Ridge Primary School, with pre-school, kindergarten and first grade.

The benefits all of this, according to DiBenedetto, include almost $650,000 in savings during the first year of the change. These fall into two categories, fixed and evolving. Fixed savings are immediate savings, such as the salary of a principal, partial savings on insurance, utilties costs, maintenance costs and supplies and support staff salaries. This is a smaller section of the estimated savings, coming up with $246,000 of savings.

The second category, evolving savings, is made up of costs that will accrue over time. This is where retaining all of the staff comes into play. For example, there are three custodians in the district that are considering retirement at the end of this school year. If Cedar Mountain closes, the three custodians from that school will fill the positions, both saving the jobs of those employees and reducing the payroll of the district. This would save approximately $200,000.

The teachers and specialists will be moved along with their students to their new schools, and the school nurse from Cedar Meadow would take on a new type of job. In the 2014-15 school year, the district spent approximately $28,000 on substitute nurses and there were days when they couldn't even find a substitute, so the building nurses would have to travel between buildings to cover student needs.

The school nurse from Cedar Meadow would become a floating nurse, covering days off and going on field trips where a nurse would be required.

“This would allow us to provide safety on field trips,” he said. “We have sent students on trips without nurses because we couldn't get one. This is a liability the board has been accepting.”

There is also potential for income as well. DiBenedetto has been in touch with Sussex County Community College, Seton Hall University and Centenary College, as well as the Sussex County Educational Services Commission, to assess their interest in using the building. It also has been mentioned as a potential replacement for a municipal building if there was a need for it. These uses would mean rental income for the district, as well as decreased utility costs, as a tenant could pay for its own utilities.

All of these benefits did not impress board member Lori LaPera, who said that the savings to the taxpayer would be approximately 1.2 cents per $100 of home value and asked what is the value of closing a school versus saving money for the taxpayer?

“I was charged with making a more efficient budget," DiBennedetto said. "I understand that $644,000 isn't a significant amount of money in a $70 million budget, but it's a start. If you begin to chip away at a high tax rate, that's when you start to make a difference.”

He also pointed out that while he understands the emotional attachment to Cedar Mountain, as he was working in the district when the school was built, but given the steady decrease in population, the current budget “just isn't appropriate.”

LaPera countered that she feels that when the district was at it's fullest, in 2005, “we were over 100 percent capacity, so maybe we are at appropriate size now. There is room for everything and class sizes are appropriate.” If the class sizes do continue to fall, she said she'd like to see redistricting done instead.

Enrollment in the district has declined by an average of 161 students per year over the last 12 years, according to DiBenedetto, and which translates to a 35 percent drop — from 5,379 to 3,499 — in district enrollment from 2003 to 2014.

Several other board members spoke in favor of some change, including Robert Hughes, who said that they should not fail to consider the idea because it saves what some see as a small amount. Another member, William Higgins, said change just had to happen.

“There are lots of vacant houses in the district and people can't sell their houses," he said. "I'm not saying let's fire 100 people. I'm saying let's do something, let's get over the emotions and deal with the facts.”

“We have reached the point of no return,” board member John McGowan said. “All the indicators are there — cost per pupil, general budget. Going into September, we will have 3,164 school aged children, down from 5,505 in 2005, and we need to deal with that. We have no choice but to get into it.”

Dick Zweier, a former teacher in the district, questioned the value of the loss of space.

“I am hoping that we can fiscally responsible without sacrificing the education," he said. "Can we do the job as well in that space? It's a different frame. It's an important frame.”

McGowan said the high school will have 1,050 students in 2015-16, but with its latest addition was certified to hold 1,850 students. Adding the eighth-grade would bring the total to 1,300.

Parent Kimberly Layner said
“The school can hold 1,800 yes, but just because you can hold it doesn't mean you want it to," parent Kimberly Layner said. "You are putting a cost value on my child's education.”

David Riker, another parent, said that some of the increase in budget can be put on increases in technology and infrastructure, costs that didn't exist before.

“What we are selling here is a good education," he said. "Seventy-five percent of the budget is payroll. That gives us a little room to work with. I don't know if $500,000 is worth sacrificing our education.”