Sea Isle School?

Academic question: Should Sea Isle have a school?
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, (609) 463-6713
Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2007

SEA ISLE CITY — The future of the small Sea Isle City school will soon be decided.

City officials, school leaders and residents met last month for a series of public forums about what should become of the 93-student, pre-K-to-8 Sea Isle City School District, which is facing the possibility of seeing even fewer students if the school-age population in the resort decreases as projected.

The Board of Education may make a decision this month, school board president Steve Zellers said Monday.

A school board work session is scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m., and another meeting is set for May 29.

“It's a very difficult decision for everybody involved,” Zellers said “The difficult part of it is if you vote on closing the school, basically you can never start up again.”

Last year, the City Commission funded a feasibility study by the Educational Information and Resource Center.

The study released in March estimated the school's per-student spending — already the highest in the state at $33,805 — will grow to $39,160 in five years.

For the 2007-08 school year, the city's school will cost taxpayers about $3.2 million.
Maintaining the school as it is would cost between $1.1 and $2.3 million more than sending students out of district, the report estimated.

But sending students to another district has drawbacks. It would reduce the control the residents have over school programs and future spending.

The future of the school could include keeping it operating as normal. It could also involve sending some or all of its students to other school districts — most likely Ocean City.

High school students in Sea Isle City attend Ocean City High School.

“It looked like it was pretty clear we have one of three options,” said school board member and City Councilman-elect Michael McHale. “One is looking at keeping the school as it is, two is Ocean City completely, or three just sending grades 6-8 to Ocean City.”

“The board has to make some tough decisions.”

There are other issues involved. The school building also has leaks and other problems. A long-range facilities plan from October identified nearly $2.2 million in repairs, the city's Interim Chief School Administrator Timothy Wade has said.

At public forums, residents voiced mixed feelings about the school: some said it should stay open for the good of the community; others, that the class sizes are too small.

“It's a big thing to be addressed,” Zellers said.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press: BIanieri@pressofac.com