Noting that there is nothing new to report regarding the possible changes at the Early Childhood Center, the scheduled discussion tonight with Roselle Park School District (RPSD) Superintendent Pedro Garrido was canceled. Although it was stated that it will be rescheduled, no future date was given.
Last month – at the February 7th Board Of Education (BOE) meeting – the school board stated that due to rising rental costs, the school district would propose moving their pre-kindergarten program from its current location at the John Adase Early Childhood Center (ECC) to temporary trailers in September of this year (link). The ECC is located on the corner of Laurel Avenue and West Webster Avenue and the proposed trailers are to located at the basketball court area of Roselle Park High School (RPHS).
The board had reached its decision after negotiations with John Adase reached an impasse in December of 2016. A day before the February 7th meeting, Mr. Adase sent the school district a letter offering another offer that would restructure some of the terms.
Download John Adase Letter
This information brought parents to the February meeting to express their concerns regarding the adequacy and cost-effectiveness of the temporary modular units as they were called. Based on the questions asked, the BOE held a discussion get together between members of the school district and parents on February 17th (link). This was to be followed by monthly informal meetings including one this month when possible rendered drawings of the units would be presented to the public. That request specifically came from parents.
Even though there is no meeting and no public rendered drawings, documents related to the pre-kindergarten temporary trailers were received through an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request for another article. Those documents included the layout of the modular units and the application submitted to the state for the program. Both are available below for review and/or download:
Download Modular Unit Plan
Download Modular Unit Application
In a related matter, at the March 16th school budget presentation, a line item labeled “Rent ECC Classrooms” has $144,000 budgeted for the 2017-18 school year. When reached for clarification, the RPSD Business Administrator Sue Guercio stated, “That item is for the cost of our pre-school classrooms where ever they may be next year; whether it’s continued rent in the current facility [or] whether it is rent of modular classrooms. That’s the line item budgeted to cover those expenses.”
A review of budgeted costs since 2010 show that since the 2010-11 school year, the district has paid $943,980. The increase in the 2017-18 is a 4% increase, which is double the amount budgeted in the previous three school years. An article on the full 2017-18 budget will be published later this week.
| Year | (Annual) | (Monthly) | ($) | (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | $130,680 | $10,890 | ||
| 2012-13 | $130,680 | $10,890 | $0 | 0% |
| 2013-14 | $130,680 | $10,890 | $0 | 0% |
| 2014-15 | $133,296 | $11,108 | $2,616 | 2% |
| 2015-16 | $135,960 | $11,330 | $2,664 | 2% |
| 2016-17 | $138,684 | $11,557 | $2,724 | 2% |
| 2017-18 | $144,000 | $12,000 | $5,316 | 4% |
TOTAL | $943,980 |