West Deptford BOE on the Fence About School Choice Program

Almost every public high school in Gloucester County has already entered the New Jersey interdistrict public school choice program, will do so for the 2013-14 school year, or, like West Deptford, has applied to do so for 2014-15, Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman told the board of education Monday night.

If the district wants to keep up with its neighbors, he said, it must at least go ahead with its bid to enter the high school in the program.

West Deptford has until July 30 to withdraw its application, and Kitchenman alluded to some trepidation on the part of some board members about whether it’s a good idea to proceed.

“The Board wants to know how the community feels about it before they wholeheartedly support it,” he said.

“That’s why we’re going to put an FAQ on the website, send out a School Messenger and let them know [what the community thinks].”

But Kitchenman said it would be a mistake for West Deptford to not proceed with the plan.

'We lose state aid'

State aid is reduced by at least $9,000 per child transferring out of the district—and .

Board President Chris Strano pointed out that the district typically loses “about 80 kids” between middle school and high school.

“We’ve lost eight students already [to the school choice program],” Kitchenman said. “That means we lose state aid. We stand to possibly lose additional students without any way to bring in students and therefore counteract the [lost] aid.”

Under the terms of the proposal the district has on the table, West Deptford could add 40 new students through the school choice program. Kitchenman said that the district estimates an additional $350,000 in state aid, at minimum, if it can fill those seats.

If those 40 students are added, “We would have to hire two additional teachers in the high school,” Kitchenman said—but even after deducting their salary and benefits, the district would still stand to realize $200,000 in additional state aid. 

Enrollment at West Deptford High School is around 900 kids now, Kitchenman said.

Middle school enrollment 'maxed out' 

Among other schools of its size in the county, West Deptford would be “among the last high schools standing,” to not participate in school choice, he said.

Within Gloucester County, Kitchenman said, only the largest schools—the likes of Washington Twp., Clearview and Kingsway—are not on record with a school choice proposal.

“The small-to-medium-sizes districts are committed to school choice,” he said

Other districts, like Paulsboro, are amending their school choice applications to expand into middle- and elementary-school grade levels as well, Kitchenman said.

But starting students earlier in West Deptford is more difficult because the middle school student population is “maxed out.”

“If districts go in and alter their applications, the trend is to expand it,” he said; “we have no interest for choice below 9th grade.”

Since the advent of the program, Kitchenman said, districts have been forced into considering their public school systems from a marketing perspective, which is sometimes unfamiliar territory for educators.

“It was originally proposed by the [Christie] administration and the [New Jersey] Department [of Education] to provide opportunities for students who are in what they deemed ‘failing schools’—what I would deem schools that aren’t working for that child or that family—to choose to have a different experience,” Kitchenman said.

From that perspective, however, he said that students considering a different high school would find many advantages in the programs offered by West Deptford.

“Our honors and advanced placement program is very, very strong,” Kitchenman said. “We’re a technology-rich high school; students have 1:1 laptops. Our performing arts would be attractive to students, [as would] the overall high level of instruction in a small setting.”