SOMERS POINT – A special meeting has been scheduled for next month to discuss the school district restructuring proposal.

Parents and other residents who attended a school board meeting Thursday, Feb. 16 with hopes of getting information or commenting on the plan were told to wait until a special meeting next month.

Board of Education member Trevor Costanza told attendees that the education committee met and concluded that there should be a special meeting to discuss the restructuring. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 7 at Dawes Avenue School.

Costanza thanked parents and teachers for the input they provided at two previous meetings.

“Based on our discussion, we found it is necessary to have a special meeting just for the reconfiguration of the district,” Costanza said. “The whole board will be present. The public is welcome. They will robo-call; they will do everything to get it out to all the parents and the whole community to bring them all together, and that’s basically what we found was necessary to keep moving forward with this.”

Superintendent Jeff Miller said anyone can give their opinion on the reconfiguration at the meeting or via the school website, www.somerspoint.schoolfusion.us.

“We’ve already started to receive some responses on that website,” Miller said. “It has some of the information, research, CAPA report, a lot of pieces we’ve been talking about at our parent meetings and a place where you can write in your own thoughts, and if you have questions we’ll respond to those questions.”

During the public portion of last week’s meeting, resident Kathy Evans said residents had started a petition.

“I know you wanted to hear from the voting public,” Evans said. “So that’s 200 people out in the voting public that are telling you they would prefer things to stay the way they are.”

Currently the school district is split geographically. Students who live on the east side of New Road attend Dawes Avenue School through sixth grade, and those who live on the west side attend Jordan Road School. All students in the district go to Jordan Road School for seventh and eighth grade. There are preschool classes at both schools.

The proposal would separate students by grade level. Kindergarten through third grade would be at Dawes Avenue School, and four through eighth would be at Jordan Road School.

Resident Donald Hoover said he needed more information before he could embrace the plan.

“Let’s make a decision based on data. Don’t make a decision based on feelings or thoughts; make it based on data,” he said. “I want to get behind it and I support everybody, but I need to see something to actually embrace it, and right now we really have nothing.”

Former board President Walt Wilkins questioned why the board didn’t send out information on busing and the potential tax impact to all residents rather than just parents.

“Has any of that information gone out to anyone as to the tax impact? Regarding the potential busing? What about the benefits of changing the plan – changing this school to K-3 and the other 4-8 – have you sent any information regarding the benefits regarding that proposed change to everyone? To all of Somers Point? Because I’m sure that move is going to affect the taxes as well. I have the feeling we’re going to be going into the busing program as well,” Wilkins said.

Resident Jane Hudson said the information sent to parents was short on specifics.

“I thought it was very vague as to how the benefits were expressed. As a taxpayer, and having a student in the system, that I would want more detail of how. It was just a lofty, grandiose overview of how it would make it better, but not specific detail,” she said.

Any plan changing the configuration of the school district must be approved by the Board of Education. Board president William August indicated that there would be public discussion, but the board could also vote at the March 7 meeting.

The next regular meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15 at Jordan Road School.