PLUMSTED – Superintendent David Ytreboe recently provided some important news concerning the school district’s pre-school program and the reactivation of a dormant school district facility to accommodate that program.
Ytreboe said, “I wanted to bring some good news and this is in reference to our pre-school program. We have been selected to get a New Jersey funded pre-school program. This was two years ago so we started with two classrooms and we expanded to four classrooms and this year we had six classrooms. The classrooms are at the elementary school and are for three- and four-year-olds.”
“The reason why this is a New Jersey funded program – meaning it is separate from the taxpayer’s general fund – is because of early interventions. The belief is that if you bring a 3- or 4-year-olds into the educational system, you are then helping provide them with an early education and then preventing intervention and less cost down the road,” the superintendent explained.
“The thought is that by third grade they should all be on reading levels. It is a really popular program and there are 11 school districts in Ocean County participating in this program. There are few concerns with pre-school. The state said they had to have 900-square-feet, a bathroom in the classrooms,” he added.
Ytreboe said, “we were able to house this in our elementary school but unfortunately because of the size of the elementary school and the student population already having pre-K through 5, we need to expand. Our goal is to have six classrooms next year grow into eight classrooms.”
“Through exploration of what the best move was, we are now moving that pre-school program back to the primary school,” Ytreboe said.
The Primary School based on Evergreen Road has not been used for students for a number of years and last year was being researched for consideration for leasing to a medical firm by the Board of Education.
Superintendent Ytreboe added, “We shared this good news with the Board of Education several meetings ago because it just made sense. It will not incur any more costs to the district and it will allow us to put our preschoolers in classrooms with bathrooms and classrooms made for them. We have a playground in the back. It is meant for them.”
NEHS Bowlers Honored
The superintendent was also on hand for a presentation of the New Egypt High School Bowling team where Mayor Dominick Cuozzo presented each bowler with a proclamation for their exemplary season. Ytreboe also presented them with their team jackets at the close of that presentation.
School District Funding Bills
In related business, the Township Committee passed a resolution supporting two bills that Governor Phil Murphy signed. Both bills will potentially help the township school district meet some of its fiscal needs.
The first bill (A-4161) establishes a Stabilized School Budget Aid Grant Program. Districts can apply for grants equal to 45% of how much of their aid was cut for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts across New Jersey will compete for a pool of $44.7 million.
This bill also allows certain districts to request permission to increase taxes beyond the 2% cap (up to 9.9%) imposed upon them years ago.
The second bill (A-4059) authorizes the Commissioner of Education to permit certain school districts experiencing a reduction in state aid to submit budgets no later than five days following the enactment of the FY2025 appropriations act.
In simpler terms, a school district would have until the state budget is finalized before they finish their own budget. The state fiscal year is from July 1 through June 30, so this means it would be the end of June.
