Board of Education May Consider Portable Classrooms For Washington Avenue

The School District of the Chathams may consider using portable classrooms in at least one of its schools if its student population continues to expand in a significant way.

The district's Board of Education discussed the idea at its Monday meeting after a parent brought up the issue.

That parent asked the board if, as she had heard, Washington Avenue Elementary School would resort to such portable classrooms to accommodate the burgeoning lower grades.

Board President Roger Rogalin said that until a demographic report by Whitehall Associates of Kinnelon was prepared and studied, no decision could be made. He said that the report might indicate that the present student population growth was a bubble.

The board voted to hire Whitehall, a specialist in school district demographics, to prepare the demographic report at the Monday meeting.

"If they say the growth is a trend and if it would take years to construct new facilities, we might need portable rooms. We don't yet," he said.

Superintendent Jim O'Neill addressed the parent's specific concerns for Washington Boulevard School by indicating there was no reason for her to expect more than the current four half-day sessions of kindergarten.

He pointed out that there were presently five sections of the first and second grades and four sections of third grade. But he anticipated five sections for each of those grade levels in September. O'Neill said to accommodate the increase, the school could use its Basic Skills Room and—"unfortunately," as he put it—the school's stage.

The board also cancelled its scheduled March 15 meeting and rescheduled it for March 22. It official public hearing for the new budget is scheduled for March 29.