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District outlines 2024–27 ESL plan, staffing and Title III uses as multilingual enrollment grows
Summary
Toms River presented a 2024–27 three-year plan for multilingual learners that focuses on increasing English proficiency, staffing and training, curriculum alignment, program evaluation and use of Title III funds; the district reported 19 ESL teachers serving about 890 students and said Title III funds are prioritized for in-year programming.
District administrators presented a detailed three-year plan (2024–27) for multilingual learners and discussed staffing, curriculum and how federal Title III funds will be used.
Adrien Gold summarized the district’s plan at the July 1 curriculum meeting, saying the plan documents program type and goals, alignment to language and content standards, staffing and training, program evaluation, and exit criteria. "The goal of the three-year plan is really for districts to reflect on the population changes ... with regards to multilingual learners," Gold said. The plan describes the district’s ESL program as high-intensity at the secondary level and sheltered-English instruction at the elementary level.
Gold told the board the district has 19 ESL teachers across K–12 serving roughly 890 multilingual learners (figures presented as current estimates) and outlined how instruction is scheduled: one period of ESL at elementary, and two periods at secondary (one replacing ELA and a second period providing newcomer/tutoring support). Title III and Title III immigrant funds are used principally to support academic programming during the school year and adult/after-hours ESL classes; administrators said they had limited parent response to proposed summer offerings when surveyed and so are currently prioritizing in-year supports.
Board members asked about staff-to-student ratios, summer-program offerings and whether a previous teacher-certification cohort would be offered again; staff said 12 teachers participated in a prior certification opportunity funded by a one-time grant and that program is not currently budgeted to repeat. Administrators said they will provide more granular staffing ratios on request.
What happens next: the three-year plan will be submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education as required and the district said it plans to apply to remain an NJDOE model program in the next cycle.
