After a challenging start to the 2017–18 school year, Superintendent Charles Earling focuses on safety, quality education in the new year
As the second half of the 2017–18 school year approaches, Superintendent Charles Earling said the Monroe Township Public School District’s top priorities are to maintain the health and safety of students and staff, as well as to ensure its children are receiving a quality, well-balanced education.
After the district faced challenges early in the school year, having to close both Whitehall Elementary School and Holly Glen Elementary School due to mold contamination found within the buildings, Earling said the safety of children and staff remains the district’s primary focus.
“If we don’t have a safe environment to learn, it’s really very difficult,” Earling said.
According to Earling, students and staff returned to Whitehall Elementary School following the new year, after having been relocated to Williamstown Middle School in October, however Holly Glen Elementary School is still in the process of mold remediation. Earling said the school — whose students are taking classes at Radix Elementary School, Oak Knoll Elementary School and Williamstown High School — will not reopen before the end of the 2017–18 school year.
“They have so much to do,” Earling said. “They have to take care of the water around the foundation, relocate some downspouts and we need a new HVAC system.”
While Earling said the district is not in a position to expand at this time, the possibility of refurbishing the schools, as well as building new schools to meet the demands of potential increased enrollment over a five- to 10-year period is something the Board of Education and administration need to start preparing for.
“We have to budget now,” Earling said. “If we plan to build a new school now, it’s not going to be complete until five years from now. As you start to look around at all of the development that is going to be taking place, another rapid increase in growth is going to start taking place, similar to what it was in 2000.”
As one of the only school districts in Gloucester County that has not yet implemented full-day kindergarten, Earling said, eventually expanding the Monroe Township school system would allow the space, however, the district would also need another $2 million for funding.
Providing students with a well-balanced education is also a priority of the district finishing out the school year, Earling said, with a particular focus on co-curricular activities outside of the classroom. For example, he said, the district values the schools’ clubs, student council organizations, music programs, drama departments, athletics and interscholastic activities.
“This is what they are looking for right now in college; they want to see a student who is not just concentrating on academics, but they are also in the arts or other co-curricular programs,” Earling said.
For further updates on the district and its schools, visit www.monroetwp.k12.nj.us.
