| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PACKETONLINE News, March 11, 2005
Education symposium to explore impact of school cap legislation
By: Rachel Silverman, Staff Writer 03/11/2005
Email to a friend Voice your opinion Printer-friendly
Program sponsored by Princeton Special Education Parent Teacher
Organization.
If you ask Princeton resident Marianne Carnevale her opinion on the new
state legislation known as S-1701, which tightens the caps on school budgets
and reduces the surplus school districts can carry over from one year to the
next, you're likely to get a fiery response.
"S-1701 is a very evil legislation with regard to local school
districts," the Special Education Parent Teacher Organization coordinator
said. "Funding is really, really the heart of the problem this year."
For this reason, Ms. Carnevale and her fellow special education PTO
associates have decided to make this item the centerpiece of their annual
education symposium, to be held Saturday at John Witherspoon Middle School.
"This time we've chosen to go global on this," she said. "In the past
we've done special education workshops. This is the first time we're
branching out.
"It's the most important thing facing both special education and regular
education this year," said Ms. Carnevale, the mother of an autistic student
at Riverside Elementary School. "We're all facing the evils of S-1701
together. ... We are all affected by budget restraints and formulas."
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will include two
main workshops throughout the course of the 8:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. event.
The first of these, a workshop led by Assistant Superintendent for
Curriculum Jeffrey Graber and district grant writer Kim McReynolds, will
serve as an introduction to the world of grant writing and application.
The second will feature the executive director of the Garden State
Coalition of Schools, Lynne Strickland, who will give an overview of S-1701.
"It's another primer to understand what our district is going through in
preparing a budget under these constraints," Ms. Carnevale said, referring
to the Board of Education's $67.1 million budget submitted to county
officials this week.
Ms. Carnevale also points out that this year's $1.9 million second
question, a proposed addition to the budget that must get separate approval
from voters because it exceeds the state-imposed budget cap, includes a
special education component - $155,000 to set up a program for preschool
autistic children.
Ms. Carnevale said there are between 450 and 500 classified students in
Princeton schools, about 12 to 14 percent of the student population.
"We're all vying for our portion of the pie," she said. "But
traditionally Princeton has had a collaborative mentality between special
education and regular education.
"We saw this year's symposium as an opportunity to raise awareness and
generate activity to accomplish change at the state and local levels," Ms.
Carnevale said. "We try to always have in mind all concerns facing all
children in the district. ... We are all part of the same team."
©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and
Central New Jersey 2005
Note: Hopewell meeting scheduled for Monday, March 14, 2005
Princeton meeting was Saturday, March 12, 2005