Middle school construction means moving 4th-graders
Staff Writer
By JOHN BURTON

RED BANK — To accommodate the pending Middle School construction project, and not compromise the students’ education, the district’s fourth grade will be moved to the Primary School next year, the Board of Education announced recently.

The extensive $11 million renovation project is expected to begin on the district’s Middle School, 101 Harding Road, this summer.

The first work to be done, according to board member Mary Ellen Mess, will be on the boilers, any asbestos abatement necessary and the electrical wiring throughout the building.

In the fall, construction will begin on the two southern wings, Mess said.

"We just thought it would be easier with fewer children in the building," she said.

While some of the larger construction is scheduled for the summer months, much of it will be done while school is in session, working around the students and teachers.

Leaving the current class of third-graders in the Primary School when they will be fourth-graders next year was thought to be the least disruptive option, because those students would have already have been in the Primary School on River Street, Mess said.

Mess does concede that "it’ll be a tight squeeze" in the Primary School next year.

She also noted that the instrumental music, the gifted and talented programs, and English as a Second Language program are more extensive in the Middle School than in the primary. This may create some logistical obstacles.

"I’m not quite sure how we’ll handle that just yet," she acknowledged.

"There had to be some internal shifting," said Fran Finkelstein, the district’s business administrator. "This was the easiest thing to do."

This year there are about 65 students in the fourth grade in the Middle School and approximately 75 in the current third grade, Finkelstein said.

"We’re talking about four classes," she said.

This week the board will begin interviewing to hire a construction manager, a very important element to the success of the project, Mess contended.

"They work with the architect and are the key," she said.

The entire project is expected to take approximately 28 months, according to Finkelstein.