***Begin Quote***
Daily Record (Morristown, New Jersey)
November 23, 2007 Friday
Rockaway Twp.: Don’t split kids
BYLINE: MATT MANOCHIO DAILY RECORD
SECTION: Pg. COMMUNITIES42
The Morris Hills Regional School District is waiting for the results of several parent focus groups before voting on a redistricting proposal that would send all Rockaway Township students to Morris Hills High School instead of splitting them among two campuses.
Now, those students are split between the regional district’s high schools — 839 at Morris Knolls High School and 504 at Morris Hills.
One scenario calls for all Rockaway Township students to attend Morris Hills, and for Wharton students to be moved to Morris Knolls.
District Business Administrator Manny Deus said the school board hired a consultant, Harry Stein, in June to conduct focus groups with parents from the district’s four sending towns — the Rockaways, Wharton and Denville.
{Extraneous Deleted}
Stein was hired on June 18 for $5,600 and recently completed the focus groups. The last took place on Nov. 14 at Thomas Jefferson School in Rockaway.
Stein, a history professor at City University of New York and Manhattan College, said on Monday that he completed the last of the forums for the capacity study, and will present his findings to schools Superintendent Ernest Palestis before January.
“Capacity is defined in two ways,” Stein said. “(It’s) the ability to carry out state-mandated programs, and the ability to carry out local, board-approved educational policies and programs.”
Stein said Palestis will decide whether to recommend action on Stein’s report.
{Extraneous Deleted}
Deus said he and other district administrators have kept their distance from Stein in order to let him conduct his surveys, and won’t make their feelings known about his findings until he delivers them to Palestis.
“We want to see what Harry (Stein) has to say first,” Deus said.
{Extraneous Deleted}
LOAD-DATE: November 24, 2007
***End Quote***
# # # # #
