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Special Meetings Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon and the Borough Council are calling a special meeting for Monday night, September 30 at 6 p.m. to ensure residents have yet another opportunity to learn more about the non-binding question on the ballot concerning Henry Hudson Regional school district including Sea Bright in the district.

The ballot question will give the governing body an indication on whether voters in Highlands support tax relief by adding Sea Bright to the regional school district.

In addition to the Mayor and Council, several Highlands professionals will also be at the meeting encouraging questions from the public before the November 5 election. All voters from any of the three towns affected by the regionalization are invited to attend the meeting

Although the question is non-binding, which means it does not have a legal impact on whether regionalization would go forward, Mayor Broullon has indicated many times in the past she wants to be sure voters are fully informed on any question put on the ballot and has provided town hall hearings to ensure the governing body has made all efforts to keep the public informed.

Regionalization including Sea Bright needs the majority approval of all three towns’ voters before it could be enacted. Both Sea Bright and Highlands have the non-binding question on the November ballot seeking the opinion of voters. However, Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council chose not to put the question on the ballot, with Mayor Lori Hohenleitner saying it was “frivolous.”

Oceanport and Shore Regional Boards of Education, from which Sea Bright would withdraw in order to join Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, appealed the Commissioner of Education’s approval of a possible regionalization to the Appellate Division of the Court.

That appeal is being heard Tuesday in Trenton.You can watch the proceedings HERE

Should the Judge uphold the state Commissioner’s decision, the three municipalities would then have a binding question on a ballots either in November, 2025 or in a special election, as to whether Sea Bright could join. All three towns must approve it before regionalization with Sea Bright could take place.

This is one of two questions on the Highlands ballot in November. The second question, also non-binding, concerns the flood wall plans by the Army Corps of Engineers.

A second meeting with information on that plan is scheduled to be held October 7 at 6 p.m. and will be held at Henry Hudson Regional School to accommodate what is expected to be a large crowd.

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Sue Thomas, the former school nurse, former board of education member and one of generations of her family who raised their families in Highlands is seeking the one three-year term on the new Henry Hudson Board of Education in the November election.

Thomas is vying for the seat against incumbent Irene Campbell for the only full term on the board, along with candidates for the two two- year terms and candidates for the two one- year terms.

All terms begin in January after the nine persons elected from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands are selected in the November election. This will be the first elected board for the new Prek-12 regional school district.

Thomas said she is seeking election “to clear a way for people to learn what the Board of Education is about” to support the dedicated educators on staff and encourage continued parent involvement.

As the former nurse at the Highlands Elementary School and as a five-year board member after her retirement from the school district as its nurse, Thomas said she has been “vested in the students in Highlands and is familiar with the schools and the district.”

Thomas has been a resident of the borough for more than 50 years, settling here after her marriage to Frank (Ozzie), who is now deceased. She and Ozzie raised their daughters here, both of whom, like their dad, went through the Highlands and Henry Hudson school systems, and now watch as her two grandsons also attend the same schools their mom and grandfather attended. The candidate herself served 25 years as the school nurse and another five as a board member.

“So many things have improved in our schools,” the candidate said, reviewing all the years in which she has been closely connected with them. “But we need to continue to move forward.”

To do that, she continued, she believes in welcoming Sea Bright into the district to increase the school’s enrollment and provide some tax relief for local taxpayers by sharing the total cost of education three ways rather than the current two borough system.

Thomas also said she has concerns regarding the members of the community having access to accurate information about the schools. That is why she plans to find a clear way for people to learn what the board does, and the laws that dictate the administration of public education. 

“No parent or community member should feel intimidated or at a loss when it comes to advocating for their child,” Thomas continued, “each of us should feel knowledgeable and empowered when addressing the Board of Education or any school official.” 

Thomas said she would work to increase and facilitate community involvement by establishing workshops and meetings to network and communicate with the public.

“The education of the children and the well being of their families is a very important matter,” Thomas said, reiterating her belief that parents should be knowledgeable of all aspects of their children’s education. Reliance on social media and unsubstantiated verbal exchanges often stand in the way of knowing what is going on in the schools, the retired nurse said; her aim would be to correct that situation. 

Thomas said she would strive to be a leader in having all community members recognize and be aware of what they can and should expect realistically from school leaders, believing that increased awareness will lead to more positive communication, which would then lead to increased academic progress and an even greater pride in the Henry Hudson Regional school district.

Thomas graduated from the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing here she earned her nursing degree, then heard her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Trenton State College. She holds both state and national certifications of school nursing and is a former registered nurse at Monmouth Medical Center. In the 1980s, she was also the school nurse at MAST, the Marine Academy of Science and Technology at on Sandy Hook.

In Highlands, she has also been active with the Garden Club and as a girl scout leader in addition to her board of education membership.

Candidates for the two-year terms from Highlands, Rebecca Wells and Diane Knox, are unopposed in their attempts at re-election to the local school board.

Four candidates have filed for the two one-year terms to be decided in November. Vying for the one-year terms are Donald M. Krueger, Allison Burel, Regina Melnyk and Kevin Ege.

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