No more space

A trailer will be used at Watchung School during the coming 2024-25 academic year to help deal with a classroom space shortage.

Meanwhile, Middlesex Borough School Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman confirmed that discussions have occurred between the district  and Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church. Those talks centered on the district potentially leasing OLMV’s former parochial school building.

Freeman explained use of the trailer while responding to questions from Inside – Middlesex via email on Thursday, July 25.

The move to obtain a trailer comes only months after Freeman stated at a school board meeting that the district is running out of classroom space.

A demographic study commissioned by the board this spring concluded that the district’s total enrollment is expected to stay stable through the 2028-29 academic year. But within the total, bumps upward are expected in the number of students attending both Watchung School and Middlesex High School, a consultant found.

“We are looking to place one trailer on site at Watchung,” Freeman said in the email. The district is still “weighing its options,” she said, as to whether the trailer would be leased or purchased.

The trailer would be used for small group instruction and office space for WIN (What I Need) and Specials teachers, according to Freeman.

”Currently these teachers share one classroom,” said Freeman. “The classroom is split to accommodate small groups that rotate in and out throughout the day. There is a need to use the current classroom as one instructional space due to the number of students in the building.”

Watchung is out of useable space within the school building. “For the current school year, Watchung will have three classrooms at each grade level except for third grade that will have two,” Freeman added. “That’s an increase of two classrooms, one at the kindergarten level and one at the second grade level.”

Exploration of the former OLMV School’s possible use, is the second time in recent years that a local government entity has considered leasing it as additional space. OLMV School was closed by the Diocese of Metuchen in June 2011 due to declining enrollment. The church has continued to use the building since then for religious classes and other purposes.

In 2017, then-Mayor Ron DiMura and the Borough Council struck a deal to lease the former school for $5,000 per month. Several months worth of payments were made, but the facility was never used by the municipality. It had been eyed for additional recreation department and senior services space.

The school, built in 1960, is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The school’s lack of usability spurred litigation between the municipality and Diocese of Metuchen, which was later dropped and the lease deal abandoned.

Freeman acknowledged the ADA issue remains, but did not say if the school district is actively pursuing a lease of the former parochial school.

“Yes, there have been discussions, and yes, improvements and renovations are needed,” Freeman said.

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