PARENT CLASSROOM LIMITATION PLAN STILL UNCLEAR

Last month, we told you about plans by Tuscan School, and perhaps others in the district, to limit the number of parents who could visit classrooms at any one time. 

Principal Malikah Majeed said then that the school was discussing the issue after a complaint from one parent about overcrowding concerns. She said Tuscan officials were meeting with the district and fire and township officials to determine what limits would be set, speculating they would likely limit the total classroom level to 30 people or less at any one time. 

With class populations running anywhere from 22 to 24 students, that meant no more than 5 or 6 parents could be in a classroom at one time. This would mean days of class-wide visits by parents would be over.

At the time, both the fire department and township building department denied any knowledge of such discussions.

Fast forward to this week and Tuscan parents were sent this notice from the Tuscan PTA as part of its weekly newsletter indicating the issue was still under review:

Hello Tuscan Parents,

Following Back to School Night, many have expressed concern regarding the new occupancy codes set by the fire department.  In many cases, these new codes limit the number of people in classrooms and open areas of the school, and, therefore, restrict attendance and participation by parents at activities.  The school and district administration are working with the fire department to clarify the implications the new occupancy codes and will communicate more information as it becomes available.

Beth Brock
Tuscan School PTA

But when we asked Fire Chief Michael Dingelstedt about it via email, he said no such discussions were occurring:

The information in the memo from the PTA appears to be based upon erroneous information that was provided to PTA President Brock. 

As I noted in my e-mail to you regarding this issue on September 9, the Building Department, not the Fire Department, is responsible for setting occupancy limits. Once the occupancy limit is determined by the Building Department, the Fire Department enforces that limit. The Fire Department has not set any occupancy limits for Tuscan School as noted in the memo from the PTA, nor have we been contacted by anyone from Tuscan School regarding this issue. 

Deputy Chief Kling recently met with the district Property Services Director, Bill Kyle, on unrelated issues and was asked about occupancy limits. Mr. Kyle was advised that he should contact the Township Building Department for direction in this matter. 

He also met with Assistant Principal Mason at Tuscan School last week on unrelated issues. Mr. Mason was also advised that the Fire Department is not responsible for setting occupancy limits. Any inquiries regarding occupancy limits should be directed to the Township Building Department. Michael R. Dingelstedt Chief of Department

Our request for clarification from Building Code Official Robert Mittermaier offered a similar reaction via email:

 I am not aware of the Township Committee or our offices working on restrictions for parents being allowed in a classroom. It is not the Township's prevue for such a limit. This in my opinion is Board of Ed policy which is not within this portion of the Township to regulate. All occupancies are set by State Codes at the time of construction and the Fire Department oversees this on their periodic inspections. All of this is for the general occupancy of the buildings and rooms within the buildings. No policy is set in this regulation for the manner that parents or visitors make use or occupy the areas within. I suggest that you contact the Board of Ed and its representatives on the question you have posed.

We reached out to Mr. Kyle and Acting Superintendent James Memoli but have yet to hear back.

On Thursday, Brock issued another notice to parents:

School and district administration continue to build an understanding of the implications of the occupancy codes for Tuscan.  As a correction to my email on October 5, it is the buildings department is responsible for setting these codes, not the fire department.

When I approached principal Majeed about the situation and the township response on Tuesday she said what I was told was not true, that discussions were underway with those departments.

Sounds like an already controversial policy change is being misrepresented to the Tuscan School community. And knowing this principal's history of poor communication I would guess she is the one who is getting it wrong.