It’s All in the Details.

  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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