WESTFIELD — Over the course of the next 12 months, theWestfield Board of Education (BOE) plans to introduce a large-scale capital budget referendum that, if approved, will allow the district to improve its facilities and address existing deficiencies.
Before any of that can happen, however, the board will need to clearly identify its priorities, meet with community shareholders, speak with residents and present its proposal to the New Jersey Department of Education for approval.
The timeline is going to be tight, Superintendent Raymond González, Ed.D., said, especially if the board hopes to see the referendum put to a public vote during the BOE’s next April election cycle.
“We will need to submit our proposal to the state by this coming fall,” Dr. González said, speaking during a regular meeting of the board on Tuesday. “Over the coming months, we will be working to refine our decisions and solidify our plans. There is a lot of exciting work ahead of us, and I look forward to being able to provide more details as they become available.”
The district currently is working to formulate an advisory committee of parents, residents, school officials, staff and students that will help inform the board as it moves through the process. The steering committee, Dr. González said, will meet once in May, once in June and once in September.
The district plans to launch a web portal about the referendum, similar to the ones that it puts out each year during budget season. Additionally, the board will be seeking community input on the project in the form of a digital survey that will be open to all Westfield residents over the coming weeks.
The board also heard from two parents on Tuesday evening regarding the district’s before- and afterschool programs.
“I am here tonight to present a virtual petition I started in late March on Change.org to demonstrate our district’s urgent need for an expansion of our before- and after-care programs, which is currently run by theWestfieldYMCA and is extremely limited,” resident Caroline Riordan said, adding that her petition has already garnered more than 500 signatures.
Before-care programs, Ms. Riordan said, currently are only offered at three out of the district’s six elementary schools. This can pose a challenge, she said, for working parents who may not have extra time in the morning.
Three of this year’s six after-care programs, Ms. Riordan continued, were already at capacity for newcomers before registration even opened.
“The handful of spots that were open at the other three schools literally filled up in minutes after they opened the registration,” she said.
Another resident, Olivia Miller, echoed similar sentiments.
“I am a teacher in a different district, which means that I have to be at work before 8 a.m.,” Ms. Miller said. “My husband has to catch a 5:45 a.m. train five days a week. We have been able to make it work up until now thanks to the programs at the private pre-schools in town, but now that my child is starting first grade, I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Patty Ramos, the district’s business administrator, said she has been working with the YMCA to ensure that the waitlists are cleared out by the middle of the summer.
“We know that this is an issue, and I can promise you that we are working on it,” Ms. Ramos said.
