As promised earlier in the year, an application to the state to use trailer classrooms at five township schools during the 2023-24 school year was approved by the Board of Education at its June 20 meeting.
The trailers would be used at Pine Grove Manor, MacAfee Road, Hillcrest and the Franklin Park annex elementary schools and at Franklin Middle School – Sampson G. Smith campus.
The trailers are needed to “provide more flexibility for building administrators when planning unique smaller group learning experiences,” District spokeswoman Mary Clark said in an email.
“Also although PreK classes can not be hosted inside the modular spaces, we have been able to use the modulars for elective offerings such as art class, music class, etc., in those buildings that still have modular classrooms,” she wrote. “This then makes more space inside those main buildings for hosting Pre-K sections.”
The application was sent to the state Department of Education, as was an application in January to use the trailers during the just-completed school year.
The portable classrooms were first leased in 2013. The leases’ terms were for five years, after which the District owned them.