The Two Step Approach

Continuing to reiterate this is the first step, and they ultimately want to see Sea Bright as part of the system,  five of the sitting members of the Mayor and Council responded they are  voting to approve the question on the September 26 special election ballot to regionalize the preK-12 three schools in this town and Highlands without the addition of Sea Bright.

The opinions are in sharp contrast to the Highlands Mayor and Council who made it public at their meeting last week that each is voting against the September 26 ballot since it does not include Sea Bright and would be a costly measure for both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Council, Mayor Loretta Gluckstein, and Council-members Colasurdo, Cusack, Dougherty and Hohenleitner all indicated they plan on voting yes on Tuesday. The first of two steps.

Councilman Jon Crowley was absent from the meeting and Councilman Murphy pointed out he has recused himself from any action or meetings on the question. As such, he said, he did not feel it appropriate he announce at a council meeting how or if he is voting.

The agenda for the council meeting was changed to enable the borough’s special attorney, Matthew Giacobbe, to appear via ZOOM to give the governing body an update on the regionalization issue as well as to respond to questions from council and the public.

The attorney, whose contract sets his fee at $165 an hour, gave a brief history of the borough’s input with regionalization, explaining the state Commissioner of Education has not yet responded to the request made by the two boroughs as well as Sea Bright and the three boards of education involved.

He noted she had dismissed the complaint filed against Sea Bright by the Oceanport and Shore Regional schools, the two districts where Sea Bright students now attend school. However, those boards appealed that decision, he said, resulting in her taking no further action until that is resolved. When the three local boards of education then filed their own request to regionalize PreK-12 without Sea Bright, she granted that request and the special election ton that, a preK-12 without Sea Bright was set for September 26.

The special election gives the power to voters, Giacobbe said, and termed it the first step in forming a regional district that Sea Bright, once the commissioner approves it, could then apply again to be part of the regional plan. The second step.

That would require another election, he said, and it was unclear whether it would also include yet another feasibility study  similar to what has already been completed by two separate experts, or whether the current studies could be updated.

With a new board established comprised of both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, approval of Sea Bright entering the newly formed district at some time would require a majority vote of the total number of voters , as opposed to numbers from each borough, as well as an election in Sea Bright. Giacobbe said even so there could never be any guarantee that other districts might not file action against the  idea once again.

Former Councilman Michael Harmon, who also served as a former mayor in Atlantic Highlands, praised the current plan and thanked the governing body for presenting it, saying he too planned on voting for it as a first step.  He noted Sea Bright is “in a relationship” and has to be dissolved from that before it can be included in another district.

The polls are open September 26 in the regular voting places in both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands from noon to 8 p.m. It requires a majority vote from the voters in each town in order for the question to be approved and a preK-12 regional district formed.

You Got 1 Side of the Story at the Fair

The Fair put together with the approval of the boards of education and promoted by the Friends of Regionalization Tuesday night  gave interested residents the opportunity to learn more about the reasons why the three boards have called for the special election September 26 to eliminate two boards of education and form a k-12 schools without adding Sea Bright.

However, the Fair did not provide all the information informed voters should have before going to the polls between noon and 8 p.m. September 26.

Apparently, the boards did not invite the Highlands Mayor and Council to be represented at the fair.  All five members of the borough council have gone on record opposing the question and urging a NO vote on September 26. Providing complete information would have enabled the public to hear why the municipal leaders thought it important to take a public stand on what will affect both towns and education and taxation for decades.

Nor was there any representative interested voters could question from the Porzio group, for whom the boroughs of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands paid for their expert study. Their report that showed the best financial action would be the regionalization of Sea Bright with Highlands and Atlantic Highlands for the best overall savings to taxpayers in both communities was similar to the school’s report that indicated the same thing and which the boards of education had unanimously endorsed months ago.

Essentially, the Fair was a repetition of the standing of the boards of education,  without offering any new or complete information on all the data that has been gathered on the question local residents have faced for many years.

While the Friends of Regionalization, a newly formed group whose address has been given as the home of a former Atlantic Highlands board member, has sought and apparently received funds to support a yes vote in the September 26 election, that former board member and former board president, Elizabeth Eittreim, present at Tuesday’s information meeting, the fair,  declined to name who the Friends are saying . In response to a questions from a resident, she said  she would have to ask them for their permission before she could release their names. She indicated Alyson Denzler, also a former board member and former board president, and herself were the Friends  leadership together with a number of other volunteers she would not name.

Approximately 50 to 75 persons attended the Fair, well planned and presented loud and clear in the Henry Hudson gym. A table was set up outside the meeting room for residents who wanted to sign up to receive e-mails with action or information from Dr. Tara Beams, school superintendent, on all school meetings, actions, or activities.

Inside, residents received  copies of the regionalization history as well as a Sept. 11 update of frequently asked questions  with a logo on top which defines it as a regionalization vote information pack for the three schools, with no mention of Sea Bright.

A large screen on the stage laid out the history of the regionalization issue and the reasons why it would work if approved September 26, while Dr.. Beams walked back and forth in the front of the room explaining everything in a loud and fast paced voice  that was on the screen behind her.  Seated in the front of the room were the experts who would then answer all questions at separate tables with no time limit for all who wanted to learn more than what was presented by Dr. Beams and the screen.

The experts at the fair included Mark Mark Magyar, who wrote the legislation as presented in the law adopted by the state Legislature which made it easier for smaller schools to regionalize into more efficient K-12 units, Jonathan Busch of the Busch Law Group who is the board attorney for Henry Hudson as well as the special attorney for the three boards in the regionalization matter, and Dr. Brian Falkowski, an educator and  Brian Diamante of SBO Financial, together with some board members and Dr. Beams.

While each of the ‘experts’ was apparently complete and thorough in responses, there was little mention of Sea Bright at the fair, why the boards or the experts have not called for the Commissioner of Education to act on the earliest petition put before her or why or how the comparatively small savings realized from having the K-12 concept put in place by July, 2024,   are more important to taxpayers than the millions of dollars Sea B right would bring into the two towns should they be included in regionalization.

Several times, both Magyar and Dr. Beams referred to the K-12 of the schools in the two towns as “the first step” which would enable Sea Bright and other towns to join the K-12 regionalization,  but neither gave any insurance the new school board would ever ask for another election to allow Sea Bright to join should that borough seek to be included once again.

In response to one question, Attorney Busch said he sees no conflict for Oceanport taxpayer  Dr. Beams leading the K-12  without Sea Bright issue,  in spite of her own property taxes conceivably rising considerably if Sea Bright took its students out of that town’s schools. He said there have been similar examples where administrators have been challenged for relationships with board members or parents, but did not cite any issues where the financial benefit of a superintendent, affected by both her position and her out-of-town residency were affected.

The fair made clear the first new board of education, should September 26 be approved, would be comprised of five Highlands  and four Atlantic Highlands members drawn from the current three boards. That board would serve until the November 2024 election, when, if the current census figures continue to be used, five new members from Highlands and four from Atlantic Highlands would be sworn into staggered terms.  If Sea Bright were ever to be included in any future regionalization, using current figures they would have one representative on the board, with each of the other two towns having four members each.

While teacher and superintendent seniority and tenure status would not be affected and salaries could not be decreased by a Yes vote Sept. 26, according to the handouts, it was not made clear how much teacher salaries would be increased, since all contracts would have to be renegotiated to the highest salaries offered at the three schools currently.

While students would see no impact immediately, the fair also brought out that once regionalized, there may be special groups housed in only one of the three buildings to consolidate the students requiring those programs. There were no figures mentioned as to increased bussing costs to make any changes in where the students would attend class. Staff could also be shared across the schools in more instances, however, no indications were given of any cost for additional vehicular and insurances costs for teachers required to move from one school to the other in both towns.

The only negative reasons given during the fair were the dissolution of the boards of education in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands elementary school districts, as well as restructuring contracts, collective bargaining agreements with employees’ union and the effort necessary to assume control of the new facilities, along with the need to relocate or transfer staff. There was no mention made of the impact of losing millions of tax dollars from Sea Bright.