Thinking yesterday about how to best understand whatever remarks, or reconfiguration, will be proposed I thought that a clear picture of what student enrollment, school configuration and capacity is at this moment could help those of us who are following the district. Information has been taken from few places: October 2011 district-wide enrollment, school capacity as indicated at the 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report ,BOE agendas and the SDA (Schools Development Authority).
I am also including THE SCHOOL ZONING LIST (I think this is the first time this list goes public here in Plainfield since its creation back on ....? ($10 to the person who can provide the accurate answer).
If you think this list could use more information or more details, please, by all means, send your suggestions via the comments' box. It would be very cool if someone takes the information below and makes it into....something less boring! Thanks! (Click HERE to view a city map with all schools' locations)
FIRST, WHERE THE SPACE IS:
HUBBARD MIDDLE SCHOOL
Enrollment: *322 students -- School Capacity: 629 students
2010-11 School Made AYP: NO
MAXSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Enrollment: 301 students -- School Capacity: 859 students
2010-11 School Made AYP: NO
NOW WHERE THE SPACE IS LACKING:
BARLOW SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 349 students -- School Capacity: 369 students
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One had 26, the other 27.
1st Grade - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. Both have 25 students each.
The Plainfield BOE proposed construction of an additional wing for this school, along with Woodland, back on December (page 26). No update has been given by the BOE on the status of this plan or the state's response (the state must approve all school construction plans by law). Looking at student enrollment and school capacity we can see the school is not overcrowded, just some classrooms.
CEDARBROOK SCHOOL K-8
Enrollment: 604 Students -- School Capacity: 472
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One had 26, the other 26.
3rd Grade - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 25, the other 24.
Cedarbrook has added trailer-classrooms that were brought in from Maxson Middle School when Cedarbrook became a K-8 school under the Gallon administration.
CLINTON SCHOOL K-8
Enrollment: 341 students -- School Capacity: *300 students (SDA Information)
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One had 24, the other 22.
2nd Grade - One (1) classrooms above the 21 student count. It has 22.
5th Grade - One (1) classrooms above the 23 student count. It has 24.
8th Grade - One (1) classrooms above the 24 student count. It has 25.
*Clinton's capacity needs to be clarified since data offered by the fiscal report offers a larger capacity than the SDA does. Which one is right?
COOK SCHOOL K-7
Enrollment: 262 students -- School Capacity: 256 students
Cook school is one of the schools that was converted into a K-8 school under the Gallon administration. The Belin-Pyles moved the 8th graders this year into Cedarbrook.
EMERSON COMMUNITY SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 487 students -- School Capacity: 437 students (SDA Data)
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner - Three (3) classrooms above the 21 student count. One had 24, the other 26 and the last one, 31 students.
1st Grade - Three (3) classrooms above the 21 student count. Two have 22, one has 24 students.
2nd Grade -Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 24, the other 23 students.
3rd Grade - Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. Both classrooms have 28 students each.
4th Grade -Two (2) classrooms above the 23 student count. Both classrooms have 26 students each.
EVERGREEN SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 582 students -- School Capacity: 450 students
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner -Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 23, the other 26.
1st Grade -Three (3) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 23, the other two, 24 students each.
2nd Grade -Three (3) classrooms above the 21 student count. Two have 23 students each, the last one, 26.
3rd Grade -Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 24, the other, 29 students.
4th Grade -Two (2) classrooms above the 23 student count. One has 24, the other has 29 students.
JEFFERSON SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 417 students -- School Capacity: Unknown as Jefferson students are being house at SDA owned "National Starch Building".
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner -Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 23, the other 29.
1st Grade -One (1) classroom above the 21 student count. It has 26 students.
4th Grade -One (1) classrooms above the 23 student count. It has 25.
STILLMAN SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 299 students -- School Capacity: 274 students
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner -Three (3) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 22, the other 27 and the last one, 28 students.
1st Grade -One (1) classrooms above the 21 student count. It has 26.
2nd Grade -One (1) classrooms above the 21 student count. It has 22.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL Pre-K- 6
Enrollment: 602 -- School Capacity: Unable to find official information
Over the state's class size guidelines:
Kindergartner - Four (4) classrooms above the 21 student count. One has 26, the others, 27, 30 and 33 students each.
2nd Grade -Two (2) classrooms above the 21 student count. The both have 22 students each.
WOODLAND SCHOOL K-6
Enrollment: 246 -- School Capacity: 266 students
The Plainfield BOE proposed construction of an additional wing for this school, along with Barlow, back on December 2011. No update has been given by the BOE on the status of this plan or the state's response (the state must approve all school construction plans by law). Woodland is also the school that was found out of compliance with Special Education.
PAAAS
Enrollment: 232 -- School Capacity: 185
PAAAS was established on 2009 under the Gallon administration and it is also housed at the National Starch Building property that is owned by SDA. PAAAS seems to share space with a preschool.
BARACK OBAMA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL
Enrollment: 86 students -- School Capacity: 175
Barack Obama Academy was formerly known as Alpha Academy and was originally housed at the High School, then it got moved to the old Lincoln School on 2nd Street. Under the Gallon administration the old Lincoln school building was renovated but there were complaints that the school didn't have proper facilities for the students. Today BOA's students are housed on the basement of the old Jefferson school on Myrtle Avenue (which was converted into Central Administrative Offices under the Gallon administration). The relocation of the students to the Central Office's basement from the old Lincoln school was done under current interim superintendent, Mrs. Belin-Pyles (page 2). The old Lincoln school is now rented to a charter high school for an annual fee of $122,000.00 (page 4).
PLAINFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
Enrollment: 1,400 students -- School Capacity: 1,999 students
7 comments:
http://www.plainfieldnjk12.org/About%20PPS/Maps.shtm
I wish that the above map could be combined with the amazing work you did Plainfield's raw enrollment data.
Thank you!!!
PS: We need to mandate that administrators, teachers and parents fill-out a detailed and PUBLIC "solutions" questionnaire. The responses should then spin-off videoed articulation sessions.
Maybe our "Maria's Blog" cooperative can formulate the questionnaire.
The district is meant to comfortably house K-6; 7-9; 10-12 schools. That should be our target. Each school should first accommodates neighborhood children and after that hold a lottery which generates a waiting list for each school.
The K-8 "Family School" configuration is a research-based initiative meant for places which can comfortably house that combo...clearly not Plainfield.
Here is my "solutions" contribution:
Thank you Maria for posting this information. It is very helpful in putting our hands around the issue.
As per your data, the elementary schools (including K-8 centers) are collectively over enrolled by 406 students (this does not count Jefferson since you were not able to provide capacity numbers for that school). At the same time, Hubbard and Maxson are under enrolled by 865 students (Hubbard is under by 307 and Maxson is under by 558).
The overcrowding, which is clearly more severe at some schools than others, can be addressed by absorbing the excess 406 elementary school students into the Maxson building by creating a K-8 Magnet School there. Adding the 406 elementary school students to the 301 existing middle school students in that building adds up to 707 students. That still leaves the Maxson building under enrolled by 152 students. That additional capacity can be used to accommodate other overflows that may occur.
Hubbard's excess 307 seats can comfortably accommodate the 232 students currently enrolled at PAAAS while adjusting for the growth of PAAAS as well as continuing to seat those regular middle school students already enrolled at Hubbard. Eventually, those regular middle school seats could be dealt with by a combination of approaches including:
-making more seats available at PAAAS.
-making more seats available at Maxson K-8
-adding a 7-8 grade component to a re-imagined Plainfield High School (more on that later).
-expanding Jefferson School into another K-8 Center (by adding 7th and 8th grade, this will reduce the number of 7th and 8th graders at Hubbard)
Plainfield High School is currently under enrolled by 499 students. At 1,400 students, overcrowding is clearly not the problem at the High School. Nearby Westfield Senior High School (which is often cited as the model that many Plainfielder's seek to emulate) had 1,796 students as of the 2009-10 school year. (Westfield also had 114 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.75.). There are many issues that need to be addressed at Plainfield High School, but reconfiguration is not necessarily one of them. Plainfield High School would probably benefit from an in-depth analysis of how the current program of study matches the needs of the students. We should have a separate, but equally important discussion about the possibility of implementing a comprehensive approach to education at PHS that includes a high quality college prep course as well as a well developed vocational/technical education course for those students that would like to enter the workforce right out of high school. We need to grapple with the reality that not all children go to a traditional college. In fact, many of our high school graduates do not go to college or go, but are not able to continue their studies beyond the first year. There are also very few spaces available to Plainfield students at the Union County Vocational/Technical School in Scotch Plains. We need to conduct a serious and professional assessment of the student body at PHS and determine the demand for vocational/technical education. The College Prep and Vocational/Technical schools can exist side by side in the same facility just like they do at other schools throughout New Jersey, including at our County Vocational/Technical Schools. We do not have the option of acting like all of our high school students are bound for a traditional college experience. We need to acknowledge the realities that are right in front of our faces. Giving students the choice will go a long way towards helping them invest more of their own talents and energy into their own educational careers.
All of this is to say, "Si Se Puede!" or in English, "We Can Do It!"
In reviewing what space is available, how is it that the two middle schools which only have half it student body still have not been able to meet the AYP standards? This to me is still a concern which many parents looking at this article will also question. The schools are not meeting the standards and they are half full; what is going to happen when the schools recieve more students? This is just another example of core problems not being taken addressed and solved. Both of these schools have been housing half of its student body and instead of a dramatic improvement they still cannot meet the basic requirements. Also in reviewing the zoning it is almost clear that many of the children attending the various schools in the direct do not live in the zones they attend.
First what needs to be done is for the schools which offer special services for our students in the commmunity those services and students need to remain where they are currently located. However, the other students who are not zoned for the schools they attend they need to be rezoned back to their original zoned schools. Once the students who actually live in the zone take their proper place if space is available then those who want to attend should apply for a space. A lot of the over crowding comes from student who don't live in the zone they attend school, excluding the special needs students. I have seen this for myself and parents have said they they don't live in the zone their children attend. Regardless of the what the Interim - Superintendent and the Board says this is fundamentally where the real problems remains.
Also I feel that before more changes are put in place we need to have a permanent Superintendent who has the exprience to put together a plan which would be best suited for the student in Plainfield.
With all the other regulations that are not being met currently, we need to focus on them first and then do a full analysis of our current situation with the Superintendent and the community on finding a solution that would be agreeable for all those involved.
Just telling parents that their children will have to attending Maxson or Hubbard in the fall will only lead to more children leaving the district.
WOW to Anonymous 11:47am!!! I am so glad someone stated my thoughts. If your HS concept could come into existence , I believe many of our "lost" students will be more motivated. I remember hearing about a program last year where the students at BOAACD (?) worked with the IT department to update many of the computers throughout the district and then the computers were lotteried to residents. What a concepting recycling!
Why have the middle schools not been successful even after the drop in students? Simply put, school-house POLITICS! Has been the problem for years. "Re-configuration," "Re-structuring," "Reconstitution," you call it what you'd like. But much of it always comes down to who administrators select to massage their ego's and who must go because they shed light on problem in order to let the emperors know they are wearing no clothes! Maria Pellum, you know as many others that when you make some "noise," some folks will call you "nay sayer," trouble maker, disgruntled, etc. In reality, the chiuldren suffer because many at upper levels on down just wish to pad their pockets and that is the priority over selecting and keeping top quality TRUE PROFESSIONALS. But Maria Pellum, please double check that you are not playing the partiality game when shining YOUR light. Let's ALL be fair and all be careful and competent in how we support our local "heroes" of education.
Please always strive to dig deeper not just wider during those moments of truth and make sure we are consistent and all inclusive regarding championing the cause of Plainfield education.
9:22,
Thanks for the message. I'll keep your advice on mind.
9:22, thank you, but please give more details.
Maria is doing a great job, especially since she is not an insider and does not know exactly where to dig. If you can give some direction as to where the major "bodies" are buried, please do and help the community expeditiously identify and eliminate problems.
It seems that the central administration is either clueless or WORSE, so I don't know why they are still employed and making BIG decisions.
We all need to demand that the board put the current central administration on 30 day notice and halt all decisions until a new executive staff and department heads (or whatever we call them) are in place.
#BeingPlayed!
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