BOE gets a rundown on possible costs to reopen Obama School
District boundary lines may have to be redrawn on the West Side
The Asbury Park Board of Education heard a preliminary report of what it may take to reinstate the Barack H. Obama building as an elementary school for the 2014-2015 school year during a special meeting held Tuesday.
Redrawing the district’s boundary lines, furniture considerations, general building maintenance and upkeep, bringing 21st century technology into the classrooms, and staffing were all addressed by Interim Superintendent Robert Mahon.
Bradley Elementary and Thurgood Marshall schools currently serve pre-Kindergarten to fourth grade. Students attending fifth through eighth grades go to Asbury Park Middle School and ninth through twelfth graders attend the high school.
Students from the southwest side of town are now bussed from the Obama building to Thurgood Marshall School and Bradley Elementary schools every day, according to Mahon. However, if the district were to reorganize, elementary school students who live east of Memorial Drive would attend Thurgood Marshall and students who live west of Memorial would attend the Obama School or Bradley Elementary, he said. The need for shuttle busses would cease with the exception of students with special needs.
Before the 2011-2012 school year district reorganized, Sewall Avenue served as the north and south boundary line for students. According to Roberta Beauford, director of special projects and human resources for the district, based on current first grade demographic enrollments, that line may have to be moved south. The shift would even out enrollments at Bradley and Obama schools since more children live in the city’s southwest quadrant.
“From the point of view of technology, we would have to bring the technology up to the same standard as the other schools,” said Mahon. He estimates the technology costs, which include Smartboard technology, overhead projectors and the addition of computer labs to cost “roughly $350,000.”
“That’s a pretty big expense, but I think it is a very important one,” he said.
Upgrades to the building would include painting, cleaning up some areas that are used for storage, upgrading the lighting and heating system, Mahon said.
Additionally, a lot of furniture was moved out of the building and distributed to other schools when it ceased school operations in 2011, so after an enrollment decision is made a majority of the furniture would have to be repurchased, Mahon said.
“I don’t have a figure for that yet,” Mahon said.
Mahon and Beauord have reviewed staffing. Some staff positions may have to be duplicated but they are waiting for a full demographic report, which should be ready by late April or May, he said.
“Some [district staff] are interested in moving to the new building, some are not,” he said.
The alternative school is currently located in the Obama building, Mahon said. The 15 middle school student enrolled in the alternative program may be able to stay in the Obama School but the 14 high school students would have to be moved, Mahon said. A possible partnership with The Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission’s alternative school program may solve that.
Board member Christian Hall asked about possible asbestos issues in the building.
“Where we’ve run into issues with asbestos [in the building] before have all been fixed,” Mahon said.
If further construction or rehabilitation exposes any new asbestos, the district may have to hire a third party to oversee the work.
Board Member Corey Lowell suggested the district work with insurance carriers, as their services are free and they are vested in having the job done properly.
Mahon had no further details about the overall costs to run the Obama School at this time. The district develops budgets on a school-by-school basis and he would be able to make a better determination once the demographic study was finished, he said.
During their January meeting, the board voted 9-0 to ascertain the costs and work involved if the district reinstated the building as an elementary school based on Mahon’s concerns for increasing enrollments.
Formerly the Bangs Avenue school, the Barack H. Obama building was closed by State Monitor Bruce Rodman in the 2011-2012 school year based on declining enrollment and the board’s failure to approve a reorganization plan proposed by then Superintendent Denise Lowe to use the Obama school in a different configuration, according to Mahon.
————————————————————
Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook and Twitter.
