School budget aims to shrink class sizes

BY KARL VILACOBA

Staff Writer

A primary goal of the 2003-04 school budget is to reduce class sizes that were above the state average in all but one of the district’s 12 schools last year, according to Brick Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger.

Seidenberger revealed these statistics at a Feb. 26 meeting held to familiarize the Board of Education and public with the aims and contents of his upcoming budget proposal.

The costs behind Brick’s school budget weren’t ready, Seidenberger said, because Gov. James McGreevey postponed the presentation of the state’s budget, which includes state aid figures for every district, until Feb. 24. Brick’s school budget figures are scheduled to be released at the board’s March 11 meeting, and put to a board vote on March 30.

According to the 2002-03 School Report Card, which Seidenberger sourced throughout his presentation, only Drum Point Elementary School fell within the state’s 19.5 student-per-class average for grades 1-12. A few other schools were close, but others were significantly higher.

The following were the average class sizes per school in the 2002-03 school year: Herbertsville Elementary School, 20.8; Emma Havens Young Elementary School, 21.5; Veterans Memorial Elementary School 22.4; Osbornville Elementary School, 21.3; Midstreams Elementary School, 25.7; Lanes Mill Elementary School, 21.7; Drum Point Elementary School, 19.5; Lake Riviera Middle School, 23.7; Veterans Memorial Middle School, 28.2; Brick Township High School, 21.6; Brick Memorial High School, 24.4. At 21.1 students per professionals, the Primary Learning Center was also above the state’s 18.7 average for kindergarten classes.

Seidenberger’s budget calls for the hire of almost 50 professionals, including 16 classroom teachers, a new child study team and several special education teachers. But even those additions would not bring Brick’s class sizes below the state average, Seidenberger said.

Also proposed are the adoption of $350,299 in new edition textbooks, $228,350 to replace aging books, new and revised courses and enhanced classroom technology.

Brick continued to cling to the bottom in a few New Jersey Comparative Spend­ing Guide rankings in 2002-03. Of 101 districts with 3,500 or more students, Brick’s $7,331 per pupil cost was third-lowest, with the state average at $10,273.

Seidenberger said he was proud that of Brick’s total per pupil cost, 71 percent was spent directly on classroom instruc­tion, which ranks Brick among the high­est in the state.

District enrollment as of Oct. 15 was at 11,695 students, up from 11,547 from as recent as May 30.

"[Growth] has not been out of control, it has not been rampant, but it has been steady," Seidenberger said.