2 Hoboken Schools May Merge As District Grapples With Budget

HOBOKEN, NJ — The merger of Calabro and Brandt schools? That’s one possibility on the table as Hoboken Public School District officials grapple with rising student enrollment and “extraordinary” budget challenges for 2019-2020.

Earlier this week, Schools Superintendent Christine Johnson met with parents and guardians at Calabro School to discuss the one-two punch that state aid cuts and rising enrollment are having on Hoboken.

• See related article: Hoboken Schools Will Get $450K Less State Aid Under Murphy's Budget

Board of Education President Sharyn Angley provided Patch with the following background information about the “extraordinary challenges” the district is facing, which was presented to parents/guardians at the April 1 meeting:

• “The loss of $5.6 million of state aid over the next seven years. The 2019-2020 portion of the reduction will be $450,000.”
• “An increase in this year’s charter school allocations — $285,000.”
• “Increased enrollment (about 15%) in the district’s own K-12 population — 290 additional children projected (so far) for 2019-2020.”
• “Finding appropriate space to accommodate an ever-increasing PreK enrollment, now approaching a total of 1,000 three- and four-year-olds. This is an increase of 100 children and creates the need for seven new classrooms in 2019-2020.”
• “Anticipated increases in healthcare costs—$452,000.”
• “The restrictions of the tax levy cap.”
• “Accomplishing all of the above without adversely affecting the district’s educational programs and services for students.”

How do district officials plan to balance the budget and make room for the wave of young students projected to enter its schools in the near future? For now, the Board of Education hasn’t had any formal discussion about the budget or Monday’s presentation, and therefore “it has expressed no opinion,” Angley said Thursday.

But there are multiple ideas on the drawing board, Angley added. Among them:

RENT SPACE OUTSIDE THE BUILDING - “In the first recommendation presented on Monday night, Pre-K would have to rent space outside of the district buildings. This has been explored and the rent levels are well above amounts that the Pre-K budget can afford. Seven district teachers would need to be cut to balance the budget, in addition to various other positions. Class sizes would increase and programs/services would potentially be cut.”

MERGE CALABRO AND BRANDT - “In [another] recommendation that Dr. Johnson presented, Calabro would be repurposed into an early childhood learning center and would house 10 Pre-K classrooms (seven of them are new PK classrooms in 2019-2020). The Calabro student body which equates to 99 students in 2019-2020 (grades 1-5) would be merged into Brandt along with the Calabro teaching staff, clerical and administrative positions. All programs/services would be maintained. Students would have the option to stay together in class.”

HOBOKEN SCHOOLS: ‘BUSTING AT THE SEAMS’

In an April 3 email to constituents, Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said that some of the district’s public schools are “bursting at the seams.”

Fisher wrote:

“This week, the Board of Education had a meeting with parents of children attending Calabro to discuss planned changes that would have Calabro students (and teachers, etc.) moving to Brandt next year. The root of these changes are twofold – reduced state level funding and massive increases in school enrollment.”

The councilwoman continued:

“In the face of rising taxes – the draft school budget suggests an increase this year of 5.4% - and significant increases in enrollment at the lower levels, the board of education is suggesting that combining Calabro with Brandt will afford better programming and use of school resources and will allow Calabro to be used for our growing pre-K enrollment.”

According to Fisher, as a “small, landlocked community,” Hoboken may face many unforeseen implications to the growth in its schools.

“The combination of Calabro and Brant is just the first sign,” she added.

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