Pupils, Maybe Town Stats Rise Slightly Perm It Park Plan OK'd

^ O b 5- -• serving ou Since 1888 Town officials, Paper Mill plan 2Qjw sockhop party to celebrate September 6,2007 ‘ sesqtjkjentennial and theater’s 75 cents weekly production. Page A3. www.theitemonline.com of Millbum and Short E H R O L U l i r TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE 4,700 Perm it park pupils, p la n O K ’d m aybe By Patricia Harris ofTheltem By Harry Tnimbore of The ttem Tuesday's first Township Committee meeting of the M season got off to an acrimonious start, with a number of residents expressing On Tuesday, Superintendent of strongly held views on a variety of topics and criticizing Committee Schook Richard Erodow said the m em bers fo r th e ir actions. number of students that were reg The main topic was student parking near the high school, which istered to enter schools yesterday occupied nearly an hour of discussion. In the end, the Committee was 102 pupik larger than the stu unanimously passed an ordinance providing permit parking on three dent population at the close of streets near the high school, but not before it heard from disgruntled school last June. residents of the neighborhood, some of whom had addressed the gov “Right now, we have 4,607 stu erning body at previous sessions. dents, not including pre-K,” The change in parking regulations, which will be in effect for a year, Brodow said, citing registration fig is to accommodate students at a time when the hi^r school is under ures compiled at the end of last going construction and a portion of the parking lot is to be used by week. “Last June, we had 4,505” contractors as a staging area Parking permits vra be made available Brodow explained the number to 51 seniors a t th e sc h o o l of youngsters enrolled in pre The ordinance allows parking by permit only from 7 a jn to 3 pm . kindergarten classes this year may on the south side of Church and Rector streets and the south side of run between 87 and 90 students. Spring Street from Willow to Main streets. T\vo parking permits are to “If you add on those numbers, be given to each homeowner on those streets. Police estimate that 83 we’re approaching 4,700 students,” the superintendent said. For the past lew years, the open o f Education w ere on h an d fo r ih e discussion. O n behalf of the board, ing of township schook has been Janet Landau, BOE vice president, thanked foe Committee for its an opportunity' for advocates and efforts and said the new ordinance “seems like a good compromise” opponents of school construction and “we appreciate the balance you’ve tried to achieve.” to evaluate the size and the rate of Lise Chapman, a board member, pledged to help craft a parking growth of the student population. plan for the future. Millbum High School Principal Bill Miron thanked Although there is no upcoming the residents for their tolerance and told the Committee he would be bond referendum facing township meeting with each group of students assigned to each street residents this fall, the size of the “We’re as close to zero tolerance as you can get,” h e noted, in speak student population for the 2007-08 ing of the enforcement that will accompany the ordinance. school year is significant Committeeman Jim Suell, who worked with police officiak and The student enrollment figures school administrators to draft the ordinance, said township officials have sparked fierce debate among will review the measure to see how it is working and will schedule a some residents in recent years as session with Sgt Peter Eakley, head of the police departments traffic the Board of Education pushed bureau, after the first semester to assess the situation. construction projects to add space at the middle and high schools, S e p t 18 a l including a $213 million bond ref the purchase of four properties that could be used for a new Town erendum approved fay voters la st HalL The ordinance replaces an earlier bond ordinance setting; aside Septem ber. During the debate, the board relied heavily on a demographic PHOTO BY GEORGE WIRT Board an opportunity to review it, according to Mayor Daniel Baer. report by the Western Suffolk Township Business Administrator Timothy Gordon was to make a Wyoming School fifth grade teachers Phil Mistretta and Shannon Nixon met Tuesday to orga BOCES office of Planning while a presentation to the board yesterday evening. more conservative report by nize their classrooms and share a stack of new textbooks that will be used by their students demographer Sara Weissman was during the current school year. Township schools opened yesterday. favored by opponents of the pro Piszar expressed concern about a provision requiring speakers to posed building plans. Updated remain with their video equipment at the bade of the room when they demographic reports by both SCHOOL VIOLENCE Weissman and BOCES were pre The Committee considered amending the ordinance to eliminate sented to the public in February the provision, but in the end, decided to look at the ordinance in its and March of 2006. entirety. Aliy substantive changes in the ordinance would mean the The approximately 4,700 stu ordinance would have to be reintroduced. dents registered for the start of Town stats rise slightly Township Attorney Kit Falcon reminded the Committee the intrin school this week is about 100 less sic right of citizens to videotape has been established and the ordi than projected by BOCES for ihe By Harry Trumbore intendent said, there was just one tencies in the study and main nance merely puts restrictions on the manner in which videotaping 2007-08 school year, and approxi of The Item weapons incident reported each can be done. mately 60 more than projected by year. ly have reported incidents, even The Committee unanimously approved a resolution supporting W eissm an Superintendent of Schook “No guns were involved in pushing and shoving in the hall Essex County’s efforts for deer management in the South Mountain Brodow also said this week that Richard Brodow said thk week either case,” he said, “and nothing ways, according to state require Reservation The resolution-which mirrors those passed in Maple as of Aug. 30, there were 335 chil while he is pleased with the low resulted in a serious incident” ments. wood and West Orange-states the township “commits to working dren registered to enter kinder occurrence of violence in th e Mill- In 2005-06, according to the “Our level of serious attention 1 a compre- garten. BOCES projected a bum school district, he noted the state report, there were seven inci remains the same because the kindergarten enrollment of 342 number of incidents Millbum will dences of vandalism, which number went up,” Brodow said this fall Weissman projected 291. be reporting to the state k rising Brodow said cost the district $40. Tuesday. “We’d like to have zero SEE PERMIT, PAGE A3 A lthough B rodow said he could slightly. He added no incidents of vandal incidents, but Fm comfortable say not provide exact numbers for The state Department of Edu ism are being reported for 2006- ing Millbum High School is a vety individual classes at the high cation last week released its annu 07. safe place. We’re fortunate the vast CLOSING DAY school level, he did said a total of al report on school violence. The Incidents of vandalism in Mill- majority of our kids have good 1390 students were registered to report compiled statistics for the bum have steadily fallen from a values.” enter the iiigh school this week. 2005-06 school year. The state high of 35 during the 2000-01 Last fall, the school administra report breaks the total number of school year. wodcs with the police department tion came under fire for releasing incidences of violence into four The annual report, which is to review its emergency plan on a registration figures that were high categories: violence (assaults, used by the state to identify regular basis. The most important er than the actual enrollment num fights, sex offences or threats), sch o o k th a t are “persistently dan element, however, is the school bers reported at the end of Sep vandalism, weapons and sub gerous,” has come under criticism district’s relationship with its stu tember. Although 4,614 students stance abuse. because of the apparent inconsis dents. were reported registered to enter Brodow said thk week, the tencies in the way different school “They're y o u r eyes and ears,” he school, the administration con total number of incidences report districts report and classify inci said. “You have to make sure you firmed the actual enrollment figure ed for Millbum in the state study dents of violence. know your students and make in the classrooms by the middle of is 30. Statewide, 18,796 incidents them feel safe coming to a staff th e m onth w as 4,579, w hich m eant However, the superintendent were reported for the 2005-06 member if they see a classmate said figures for Millbum being school year, an increase of 2 per having difficulty or about to start by just 17 students over the previ reported to state for the 2006-07 cent over the previous year. At the trouble.” ous year. school year-which will appear in same time, the state claimed 72 Brodow made the point that According to figures supplied by next year’s report-rose by five percent of New Jersey schools school violence is often caused by the superintendent’s office at the incidents for a total of 35.

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