Not sure what the Council-Women meant by dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s since it will be two weeks Friday, May 5, since the representatives of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, together with their administrators, attorneys and financial consultants met with a mediator overseeing, as the borough administrator explained it at the last council meeting, the discussion of school regionalization. They all promised to keep it all hush hush until they had it resolved. All they agreed to say is that the meeting was very upbeat and positive.
Atlantic Highlands Councilwoman Lori Hohenleitner did venture to say a few more words, explaining that the discussions were at the point of dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, the point she said is “exactly where we’re at now.”
Still the Atlantic Highlands administrator did not respond to the question and the Highlands administrator said he is still working on getting a date set with that borough’s attorney. when asked whether another meeting has been set to follow up the “very positive meeting.”
Exactly how do 11 people dot the I’s and cross the T’s if they aren’t even talking with each other?
The other idea is that the next meeting to complete the whole petition might be delayed until after May 5. That’s the last day they say that Oceanport or Shore Regional school districts could file an appeal of the state Commissioner of education’s dismissal of their first action, when they filed against the petition because of Sea Bright wanting to split from them and regionalize with Highlands and Atlantic Highlands in the first place.
Are you confused yet? Or do you just think this entire matter has been handled poorly, delayed unnecessarily, cost, and continues to cost, taxpayers in all towns involved tens of thousands of dollars and running the risk of the school districts losing state aid, and missing an election date everybody used to say they wanted so the issue could be resolved “as soon as possible.”?
Maybe looking a bit more closely at the entire disaster created by highly paid and elected personnel will make the current issue more clear.
Think about this. Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright, together with the three boards of education, all unanimously agreed they want a K-12 regionalization to go before the voters to see if that’s what the people want.
But Highlands and Atlantic Highlands had a difference of opinion on splitting the millions Sea Bright would be bringing into the mix with the regionalization. Atlantic Highlands wanted the percentages of monetary distribution settled now and forever; Highlands wanted to get it settled now but reviewed again every few years … Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.
So, the petition they had all agreed on was going to the Commissioner of Education still needed a couple of blanks filled in. It has never gotten to the Commissioner of Education. As of today, it has still not gone to the Commissioner… Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s
But Oceanport and Shore Regional jumped the gun. They knew the petition was not before the Commissioner. Yet they filed their own action, paying their own attorneys, to challenge a petition the Commissioner had not even seen. … Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s
Of course, the Commissioner dismissed their complaint. Why? She had to, because she did not have any petition in front of her, so how could she deny something she had not yet seen? Seems the Commissioner dotted her I’s and crossed her T’s
So, absent the petition, what could Oceanport and Shore Regional possibly be appealing? Do they really think the Commissioner could change her mind if they challenged her dismissal in the first place?
People. The Commissioner of Education STILL DOES NOT HAVE PETITION! And time is wasting while the two towns take more than two weeks to dot the I’s and cross the t’s, tell the taxpayers what they’re doing, and fill in the blanks on that petition everyone agreed to but has not yet been sent to the Commissioner.
This must be real life. Because it seems too fanciful and far out to be make believe.
The longer Highlands and Atlantic Highlands stall on getting that petition completed and put on the Commissioner’s desk, the longer it will mean for Oceanport and Shore Regional to file action against it, if that is their intent.
Which also means, if you want to look at more insanity in the entire story, Sea Bright is paying on both sides; they are actually having to pay for the very attorneys in their two school districts that are opposing their desire to leave those districts. 0
In addition to Highlands and Atlantic Highlands paying more money for their attorneys, financial consultants, AND the mediator to try to get their problems resolved, this would also cost the taxpayers in Monmouth Beach, West Long Branch, Oceanport, and Sea Bright more thousands of dollars to have the attorneys for their two school districts oppose a law created last year specifically to have communities form large regional school districts.
Atlantic Highlands resident Chris Longo told council at the last meeting that “Time kills deals” Yet still there does not seem to be any action of any kind since the very secret mediation all attendees have apparently promised to be mum other than to say it was very positive.
If they’re crossing the t’s and dotting the I’s, why can’t the public know if there is another meeting set? Why can’t the public know what this is all costing that they cannot know anything about?
It has been said by an Atlantic Highlands councilmember that the date of the next meeting was May 10 or so, certainly after the May 5 deadline they say is the deadline for when Oceanport and Shore Regional could file an appeal of the state Commissioner’s dismissal of their original complaint.
Taxpayers. Think about that! At least eleven people were at a meeting discussing terms for the petition that will be placed on the ballot whenever they get it done and approved. Of those eleven, seven are highly paid professionals. They met two weeks ago. But we’re still crossing t’s and dotting I’s?
Or are we waiting to see what two other school districts want to do?
Are we ever going to get the opportunity for the residents of Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright to vote on whether they believe what those two studies highlighted many months ago? Or are they just going to continue to stall, delay, stay secretive, and pay thousands of dollars to professionals to keep the issue delayed. If the question ever gets to the ballot, I’d bet the voters will dot their I’s and cross their T’s
