Bogus Alarms Irk Pupils’ Parents; Sensors Blamed

DENNISVILLE – Dennis Township Board of Education’s meeting was standing-room-only Feb. 26. One of the main topics of discussion: “Why do the fire alarms keep going off when there is no fire emergency?”
There were four incidents on Dec. 10, Dec. 31, and two on Jan. 18 where the fire company responded quickly to each. Three were the result of faulty sensors and one from the buffering machine.
Superintendent Mark Miller assured the board and parents that the fire department had assured him that they “must, will and are glad to respond even if it is 100 times a day.” Miller also told the board that the school year calendar will be adjusted due to snow days, but that graduation is still scheduled for June 11. April 21, Easter Monday, will be a professional development day for staff.
The district student population continues to decline. It is 581 pupils, down 12 from last year. The daily attendance rate is 94.8 percent. State law requires an attendance rate of 96 percent or the district can face losing state funding.
Miller also reported that soon there would be more of a police presence at the school, “because we invited them in,” he said. He added that he wanted to teach the pupils “these are the ‘good guys’ and they’re here to help us.” That task will be filled by the N.J. State Police station in Woodbine. Trooper William Fisher will be the assigned liaison.
The superintendent also explained the district’s state of academics. Miller said in “all honesty” he had to admit that the district’s students were “weak in language arts but strong in math. Under the No Child Left Behind initiative we did not meet our goals in language arts,” said Miller.
A new testing series begins this month. It is called PARCC and is administered via computer, and not pen/pencil and paper. The superintendent cautioned that “this is a real strong year of change and everyone should expect a drop.”
Board President Sally Teefy had some things on her wish list to enrich students if they had the funds. “I would like to see a summer program for language arts, and tutoring for the pupils who would benefit from it,” she said.
A mother requested an answer to the question of making sure that Catholic students attending Dennis Township schools will be offered meatless meals on Fridays during Lent as is their religious practice. The mother said it was a problem before this superintendent’s arrival.
“Our cafeteria company is always sensitive to religious and other issues. I have no knowledge of what happened in the past but it has not been an issue since I came to the district,” Miller replied.
Board member Renee Pettit reported that the efforts to establish a PTA in the district were ongoing and that she had received advice and moral support from the state organization. Pettit envisions a group that is complementary to the board and aids the district in improving the education of students, including fund raisers.
The Herald contacted Miller the following day when the amount of state aid to the districts was announced. When asked if there had been a change, Miller said, “State aid has been issued and we have basically received flat funding. That means we have the same amount of funding as last year. Once we plug the numbers into the budget we will have a better understanding of the effect if any.”
To contact Helen McCaffrey, email hmccaffrey@cmcherald.com.