The Voorhees Township Public Schools Board of Education unanimously approved three items of new business during a special meeting on Feb. 2, with all three items pertaining to the district’s previously approved construction project at Kresson Elementary School.
The board originally approved a $4.4 million addition to Kresson in November 2020, to serve as the district’s central location for full-day kindergarten starting in September 2022. The project was funded by surplus and capital reserve, according to the district, meaning neither a bond referendum nor a tax increase was necessary.
The plan called for 10 new classrooms at the school, with five already standing classrooms refurbished and also used for kindergarten. But after getting halfway through the current school year with students attending kindergarten at their closest elementary school, officials reportedly discussed shifting the Kresson addition’s use to better accommodate the district’s needs.
During the board meeting, Acting Superintendent Michael Redfearn made the recommendation to the board that the addition be repurposed into an early-childhood center.
“This recommendation is being made not because the current plan won’t work; it will work, but it’s being made because we’ve had the opportunity to evaluate kindergarten for two marking periods as it’s taking place at the home schools and it’s working well,” Redfearn explained. “So we looked at if we could repurpose this facility to help even more students.”
In revisiting the building’s original purpose, Redfearn outlined a number of challenges the district would face when moving all of the district’s kindergarten students into Kresson.
“Obviously, bringing 250 5-year-olds into one facility has its challenges, so we took a look at it,” Redfearn said. “It would increase traffic, both by buses and by parent transport.
“We could possibly have students transitioning to three different schools within three different years … and there would be an increase in the number of students needing supervision,” he added, “along with a significant increase in the number of students needing support.”
Redfearn’s presentation cited other challenges that would make the move for all kindergarten students to one building difficult, including that siblings could not attend the same school when one is in kindergarten, and an increase in the district’s preschool population in recent years.
The newly approved plan repurposes 11 classrooms of the addition to accommodate ‘s preschoolers, while using four classrooms to house kindergarten students at Kresson. Under the new plan, kindergarten students would continue to attend full-day classes at their assigned school.
Five of the 11 classrooms would be used for the district Inclusive Preschool Program, currently at Signal Hill Elementary School. Five classrooms would be used as elementary self-contained classrooms and one would be used for Child Study Team services.
Board President Monica Watson thanked Redfearn and district administration for their work on evaluating the potential repurposing of the future building. She added that the district’s ability to assess the current situation has allowed it to make what she believes is a better decision for the district moving forward.
“I especially appreciate and like the solution oriented way that we approached this, and that we didn’t just see problems [halfway through the year] and leave it at that, but we actually came up with what I think is a really elegant solution,” Watson noted.
Member Rachel Van Aken said at the meeting that the board anticipates making its announcement on a new superintendent in the middle of this month. The board is also expected to make a decision on filling the open board vacancy at its next scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
The full video and presentation from the Feb. 2 board meeting can be viewed on the district’s website at https://www.voorhees.k12.nj.us/Page/1.
