Some MMS After School Programs Restored

Some of Millburn Middle School's extra curricular programs will be able to stay, including jazz band, but some still will be cut back or eliminated.

The Board of Education voted to restore the jazz band, Math Counts, Math enrichment, newspaper and literary magazine programs when it approved the personnel report Monday night.

The program restorations account for about $11,000 of the nearly $20,000 reduced from the budget account that pays for the teacher stipends for the programs. Of that amount, about $7,000 is being transferred from the curriculum and instruction account.

Still being cut are an A/V coordinator position, the position for the person who coordinates the stage sets for the spring musical and the book store adviser. The Peer Leadership Program, which will remain, also will suffer cuts, losing an adviser and a coordinator.

Lise Chapman, school board Personnel Committee chairman, outlined the restorations during the committee report Monday night. "We felt it was important (to restore the programs) with so few electives and opportunities at the middle school," she said. The cuts were a surprise to the committee.

But the committee wants to see changes a year from now if possible. Chapman said the committee wants the Finance and Program committees to review implementing student activity fees. Area school districts like Chatham and Madison have implemented the fees.

Also during Monday's meeting, the board had a first reading on a policy that would allow activity fees to be implemented at some time in the future. The policy does not mean the district has to implement fees but would have a way to do so, said Sam Levy, school board Policy Committee chairman.