It’s all in the details.

Whether voters were for or against regionalization without Sea Bright is not really what will make the difference since Tuesday’s election. It’s what is going to happen next. It’s all in the details.

And every voter in both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands should always be reminded, whether he or she likes it nor…. they all let 20 percent….one out of every five…..voters in their town make the decision.  It’s all in the details.

So if you voted and are not happy with the results, keep following the issue and be informed in future votes.

If you voted and are happy with the results, accept the blame when teacher contracts start to be negotiated and taxes go up….without Sea Bright’s money coming in. It’s all in the details.

Teachers in all three schools will be under a new contract which of course is based on the highest contract right now…no teacher can be, nor should be, expected to work at less income simply because of an election.  It’s all in the details.

If you did not vote at all, don’t complain, don’t cheer…just remember you chose to let one out of every five of your neighbors make the choice for you.  It’s all in the details.

Was there misinformation put out there by the Friends of Regionalization? Of course there was. Even the Commissioner of Education made it clear that it simply is not true that the K-12 regionalization had to be approved before Sea  Bright could join.

The law passed earlier this year was specifically written and passed just so towns like Sea Bright could be involved in a regionalization. So those door hangers put out by the Friends didn’t quote correct information either because they were not informed or they intentionally printed a lie.

Was literature and the urge to vote YES distributed to parents dropping off kids at school passed out to them Tuesday morning? Sure it was.

Isn’t that against school board policy to allow any electioneering on school property?

The statement that “the students will not notice any difference” is kind of silly in itself. If they won’t see any differences, why make a change and say it’s for educational purposes?

If you can share educators at all levels and lots of other things now, why couldn’t the school boards simply agree to share even more?  And why has it not been done in the past?  It’s all in the details.

Many people are wondering whether it was intentional or accidental that the wall printing behind the superintendent when she is being interviewed before a TV camera was visible and not very complimentary…  Rather unprofessional and shocking for someone who apparently takes such care in being sure every last detail is perfect.  It’s all in the details.

Did the Commissioner of Education interfere with the election? It certainly appears so.

She sent a letter which was made highly public saying she dismissed Oceanport’s complaint against Sea Bright leaving their district.

Why did she not announce that last July?

Why wait until hours before the election to announce it at a time when many people had already voted? Would knowing that have made any difference in the vote?

No one will ever know.

But Oceanport, and Shore Regional, still have their appeal of that complaint in front of the appellate court. So what do you think? Is an appellate judge going to go against the Commissioner’s decision and say the lawsuit against Sea Bright can continue?

Do you think the Appellate Judge will make it seem, if he upholds the complaint against Sea Bright, that the Commissioner of Education of the State of New Jersey was simply erratic or whimsical?

The vote is over. It has been expensive, time consuming, divisive.

Once the vote is determined to be official, everyone should work together to make it worth everything it has cost. Hopefully, Sea Bright will still want to join the new regional district.

Hopefully, the two feasibility studies already completed and recommending a Sea Bright/Highlands/Atlantic Highlands regionalization “as quickly as possible” will still be used.

Hopefully, none of this has to wait until the new Board approved Tuesday takes over, which won’t be until July of 2024.

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Why Vote No?

Well, it’s time!  After all the talk, all the figures, all the truths and lies, all the innuendos, and so much, sadly, division cropping up once again between those two wonderful towns of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, it’s time for a vote on the question of regionalization. Vote No.

The polls are open in the usual places in both towns, not early in the morning as for regular elections, but from noon to 8 p.m.  In Highlands, districts will vote in both the fire house and the VFW post home as usual; in Atlantic Highlands, everyone will vote at the Charles Hesse building at St. Agnes School as usual.

It’s an important vote, since it will impact the education of students and the cost to taxpayers forever in the future.  That’s why it is essential not only to cast a ballot, but to cast it with knowledge and understanding of all the questions around it. Vote No

If you do not know the answers to all of the questions, if you do not know the impact of a change, then it has to be a vote of NO in the polling booth Tuesday.

Why would you vote to change something if you don’t know what effect it will have?

If you think approving it means Sea Bright will become part of the school district, than a NO vote at the polls on Tuesday is essential. Voting for a change Tuesday DOES NOT mean Sea Bright will be included.

If you want to see Sea Bright bring in a few million dollars to help offset your taxes, then you have to vote NO  in the polling booth Tuesday.  This question being decided Tuesday DOES NOT include Sea Bright nor give any promise Sea Bright and its millions will ever be included.

Highlands votes, in particular. If you don’t want to see your town in the future being in the same predicament Sea Bright is in now….paying tens of thousands of dollars more than your neighboring town simply because you have fewer students in the schools. Then vote NO in the polling booth Tuesday.

Highlands voters, do you even know how much debt the Atlantic Highlands elementary school has now?

Do you know if you vote for change, that means you will then be shouldering HALF of their debt? Then vote NO at the polling booth Tuesday.

Right now, the schools in both towns are run under one superintendent. And the three school boards just voted a couple of months ago to keep the same superintendent in charge for at least the next three years.  She gets upwards of $180,000 a year to do her job.

That will not change, no matter whether you vote aye or nay.  But you might want to wonder whether she is doing a great job when you consider that at Henry Hudson alone, more than 35 employees, mostly teachers, have quit or retired.  Unless you want to give her even more control, vote NO at the polls Tuesday.

It’s that superintendent who has been leading the charge to give an affirmative vote on Tuesday, a vote which will keep her taxes the same in her hometown of Oceanport. The lawyers  are saying there is no conflict in her advocating voting now and excluding Sea Bright and keeping her own taxes stable in Oceanport is not a conflict.

She has never has promised to work or advocate letting Sea Bright in…now or in the future! So if you want to see Sea Bright come into the district with its millions of dollars, vote NO at the Polls on Tuesday. That leaves it open for voters to make the decision in the near future.

What will change is whether there will be three boards or one board. A yes vote will reduce it to one board overseeing all three schools. So it will save voters the cost of one secretary….two schools already share one.

What’s stopping all three from sharing the position now?

The schools already cost share on so much.  Why can’t they share on so much more right now? It doesn’t take wiping out a couple of boards of education to agree to share costs.

Isn’t that something the superintendent should have been advocating, promoting and putting into effect all along? A NO vote  at the polls Tuesday will give the three boards the opportunity look at the whole picture themselves and find other ways to cost share. It’s their tax dollars, not the superintendent’s.

A NO vote at the polls Tuesday will give every educator, every taxpayer, every parent, everyone interested in the education of our youth the opportunity to get the CORRECT and HONEST answer to all the questions before changing anything.

Change for the sake of change accomplishes nothing. A NO vote at the polls on Tuesday is essential if you want the time to learn more, to let the voters decide the future, to keep things stable until  those experts who have all UNANIMOUSLY  said Sea Bright should be part of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands schools  are listened to and followed. A NO vote will give the public  the opportunity to vote on listening to the experts…and doing it as soon as possible.

A NO vote at the polls on Tuesday keeps the opportunity alive to follow what all the experts say should happen as soon as possible, what the new state law was specifically created to do, namely enable regionalization with Sea Bright, and common sense to take effect.

Just Say NO

Former Sea Bright Councilman Charles Rooney, son of former Sea Bright Mayor Charles Rooney, who served ten years as the borough’s leader throughout the 1990s, sent a letter to all local media giving the history of Sea Bright’s desire to become part of the Henry Hudson Regional School District, and citing all the economic and educational benefits of the idea.

In his letter, Rooney also urges voting NO in Tuesday’s election, fearful anything else would mean the demise of future inclusion of Sea Bright with its nearest neighbors.

Mr.  Rooney’s letter:

I have been a Sea Bright resident my entire life and have many long-time friends in our neighboring towns of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands.  We share so much in history, culture, and our priorities including family, children, quality education, and protecting our beautiful, connected shore towns.

We are faced with a once in a generation opportunity to take a major step forward in what matters most.  That opportunity is the upcoming special referendum vote regarding the regionalization of our education systems on September 26^th.  The quality of education for our children, holding down the never-ending property tax increases, and pulling together communities that are neighbors in more ways than proximity is something I believe we all care deeply about.

There has been much communication and static in the system over the last few years on the pros and cons of regionalization between Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, and Sea Bright.  Make no mistake, this issue is charged with emotion, financial studies and impacts, and hidden agendas some of which serve special interests other than our residents.

But there are a few facts that are irrefutable which I would like to share.  First, two state funded regionalization studies have been conducted over the last 3 years.  Both emphatically concluded that the best educational and tax efficiency solution was an immediate regionalization of Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, and Sea Bright.  It would yield the best educational approach for our students, result in optimum savings for our taxpayers, and achieves the State Education Commission’s vision.

Second, legislation unanimously approved in Trenton cleared the path for such regionalization without the risk of litigation.  So, while some seek to use litigation as a justification to exclude Sea Bright, that rationale is simply inaccurate per the approved legislation.

Third, a regionalization of only Atlantic Highlands and Highlands results in no significant savings and benefits to our students and taxpayers.  Its impact will be invisible and could be used as a step to end there and never include Sea Bright.

Lastly, if Sea Bright were to be included in this tri-town regionalization, the impact would be huge for Atlantic Highlands and Highlands.  It would result in an influx of funding of greater than $22 Million over the next 10 years to support major educational enhancements for our students and significant reduction in property taxes.  Additionally, it would see the inclusion of only 45-50 students from Sea Bright, which would have very limited impact on the existing school staff or facilities. This represents a major influx of tax relief with little impact on the existing system.

So, for the love of my town, my neighbors, and our students, I implore each of you to vote NO on the special referendum on September 26^th from 12:00 – 8:00PM.  A NO vote on September 26^th would open the door to another vote, hopefully in 2024, in which Sea Bright could also be included.

That would create a new regional school district that would actually represent savings, more programs for our students, increased educational possibilities, and a third town contributing to the ever-increasing cost of education without incurring any more costs for the taxpayers.

The referendum proposed is the wrong path for all of us not just in my opinion, but in the opinion of the experts. Instead, we need to demand the Town Councils and BoEs do the right thing for all and re-introduce a referendum for Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, and Sea Bright to become one integrated PK-12 district to the benefit of our Children and our Taxpayers.