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Parent urges clearer communication, parking fixes for Campbell–Moss cohort
Summary
A parent at the Metuchen Board of Education meeting pressed the district for clearer messaging to families about the planned Campbell–Moss "boomerang" student rotations, raised safety concerns about construction-related parking on Bounty Street during drop-off, and suggested a clearer school-calendar format.
Jen Zimmerman, a Metuchen parent, told the Metuchen Board of Education on June 10 that families in the "boomerang" cohort moving between Campbell and Moss schools need clearer, proactive communications from the district.
Zimmerman said her middle child is part of the cohort that will move between Moss and Campbell across grade levels and that many families missed the Moss graduation where the plan was discussed. "There hasn't been proactive messaging either from the board, from Moss and Campbell combined," she said, asking the district for a combined message, suggested language parents can use at home, and reassurance for students facing multiple school moves.
Zimmerman also raised a safety concern about construction workers parking on Bounty Street near Moss, where she said she frequently walks three young children to afternoon drop-off. "People are pulling out, people are not going the speed limit. And so it's a real safety concern for the this is our littlest population," she said, and asked whether contractors could be asked to park elsewhere to preserve curb space for families.
She added that uncertainty about start times for Moss and Campbell could make simultaneous drop-offs difficult and increase the safety risk if parents are rushing between sites.
On the district calendar, Zimmerman said parents routinely miss half days or misconstrue "in-service" labels. "I think it just needs to read in service (no school for students)," she said, and suggested the district publish a downloadable Google calendar families can add to phones.
The board acknowledged the concerns and thanked Zimmerman for the feedback. "We always want to hear from our families how things are going, and we are always willing to receive that feedback and think about how do we incorporate that into our communication plans," said the presiding officer during the meeting. The board did not announce a schedule change or a specific follow-up at the meeting.
Context and next steps: The district has not posted a finalized start-time schedule for Moss; Zimmerman said that uncertainty, together with ongoing construction and the boomerang cohort's alternating placements, is creating stress for some families. Parents who want explicit language or more detailed drop-off directions will need to await further communication from school administration, which board members said they would incorporate into planning for the coming school year.
