BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - The Board of Education has renewed approvals for substandard instructional space for what it hopes is the last time.

The school district plans to open its new middle school on Baird Road for the 2007-08 school year. At that time, the current middle school will become part of the elementary school, and the district may therefore no longer need substandard instructional space for its students. But as long as the district uses substandard space, according to school officials, the state Department of Education requires the renewals.

At the July 24 meeting, the board again approved the use of two smaller rooms in the elementary school as resource rooms for first- and second-graders. It also approved the use of the middle school media center alcove as a regular instructional classroom for students in grades five to eight.

In addition, the board approved the use of five trailers as regular classrooms for grades five through eight, along with four trailers as classes for kindergarten and other elementary school students.

The board also approved the use of another trailer as a classroom for the preschool held at the elementary school.

Business Administrator Brian Boyle said the district has a total of 11 trailers, one of which is a double unit, and that the board owns all but two of them.

The district purchased its trailers a few years ago at a cost of $130,000 apiece, Boyle said. The installation fee for all the trailers was $700,000, according to Boyle, and each year it costs $12,000 to lease a single trailer.

During the meeting, the board also approved a contract with the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission (MOESC), which will provide transportation for some local students to various schools.

Superintendent Mary Ann Donahue said most of the students who will use the transportation require special services.

Boyle said the district was forced to outsource the transportation because the bus routes require aides, but no one applied for those positions.

He said the total cost for the transportation is not yet available, as it depends on the distance of the routes. There are 11 routes altogether, according to Boyle, who said the district did not have as many in the past.

Board member Holly Dietz said covering the cost of the transportation could be more expensive than raising the pay for bus aides.

According to Boyle, raising the pay standard is part of negotiations and contracts with the school unions. The district offers as much as it is permitted to pay for aides, he said.