Barnegat Schools To Vote On Reconfiguration Tuesday

BARNEGAT, NJ — The Barnegat Board of Education will hold a final vote Tuesday on school reconfiguration. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Robert L. Horbelt School (104 Burr St.).

Administrators shared a 73-page configuration report Tuesday to the public and a letter saying the district needed to "address the inequality in class sizes from building to building and "disparities in educational experiences."

District officials have argued that the current setup leaves some schools with larger class sizes than others and that rearrangement would improve standardized testing. Barnegat's four elementary schools currently serve preschool through fifth-grade, while the middle school holds grades six through eight.

Administrators proposed three possible solutions:

• leaving the current system in place but reorganizing the geographic boundaries to determine which school a student will attend.
• reorganizing the four elementary schools into two lower elementary schools — preschool through second grade — and two upper elementary schools — third through fifth grade.
• The Lillian M. Dunfee School would hold preschoolers, the Cecil S. Collins School would serve kindergarteners through second grade, the Joseph T. Donahue School would have third- and fourth-graders, Robert L. Horbelt School would teach fifth and sixth grades and the Russell O. Brackman Middle School would hold seventh and eighth grades.

Superintendent Brian Latwis has urged the school board and parents to support the third model, which he says is the best use of resources. The arrangement would also benefit students with special needs because it would eliminate the practice of busing them to schools outside their neighborhoods for services, Latwis said.

Many parents around the community have criticized the reconfiguration plans, with concerns that include children's potential stress of switching schools every two years. An online petition called "Say No to the Redistricting of the Barnegat School System" garnered nearly 1,000 signatures.

The district discussed the proposals last year, originally planning to implement changes last September. But Latwis chose to delay the implementation because of concerns about the timing. Read more: Barnegat School Reconfiguration No Longer Taking Effect In 2019

What are your thoughts on the reconfiguration proposals? Share in the comments below.

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