The public’s right to know does not appear to be a major concern judging from the actions and lack of information offered in a timely fashion by municipal governing bodies and boards of education in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.
There appears to be an awful lot going on about school regionalization as a major issue as well as the employ of the superintendent of the Henry Hudson tri-district. But at the same time, it does not look like many of the official boards involved in all this activity are sharing the news with the public.
That is not to cast a slur at either the Highlands or Atlantic Highlands governing bodies. They do not have an obligation to post meetings of the boards of education. Quite simply, they might not have been given all the information from the school boards. If the school boards have all the information on the meetings they have to attend, they apparently do not feel it important enough to post on their own board of education pages.
If you stay with it, this appears to be the situation today.
Atlantic Highlands Borough Council has announced and included on its agenda that it is going into executive session Thursday night at its regular meeting both to discuss regionalization as well as land acquisition. They also promote they make take action one or both of these matters during the regular meeting.
But they do not include in news or upcoming meetings on the borough’s official page that the very same night of their meeting, Henry Hudson regional Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting to discussion regionalization.
It isn’t on the Highlands borough page either.
However, if you look at the Highlands Borough official page, you will see yet another meeting in black and white. That is a special meeting of the Tri-District Boards of Education at 7 p.m. Wednesday May 24, in the school cafetorium. They are the only ones who have advertised that meeting.
The Henry Hudson District Board of Education page doesn’t announce that meeting. They do, however, announce their special meeting this Thursday, at 7 p.m. in the Cafetorium and apparently a meeting with all three boards of education.
The purpose cited for that meeting? So the boards can go into executive session to get some legal advice regarding the regionalization process, something, it seems, they would know long before now, or at least have been researching when all the discussion began so many months ago. The notice further advises they may actually take formal action after that meeting.
Keep in mind that is the same night as the regular Atlantic Highlands Borough Council meeting when they have announced they are going into executive session and may take action both on land acquisition and regionalization.
So could it be so that after all this time, all these delays, all those studies, all that money, and all those experts something is actually going to be getting done now?
Certainly sounds important enough that people would love to attend both meetings.
Highlands does not have information about the regionalization discussion by the school boards this week on its official page. Neither school board meeting is on the Atlantic Highlands Borough page at all. Nor are there any notices on the official board of education pages for either the Highlands or the Atlantic highlands boards of education who will be meeting at Henry Hudson.
So now look at the meeting that only Highlands Borough has chosen to publicize, the one that is set for May 24 at 7 p.m. in the cafetorium at Henry Hudson. Purpose of that meeting? Purpose of that meeting?
The superintendent’s evaluation.
Perhaps that has been lost in the shuffle of all the regionalization chatter, money spent, decisions delayed, more meetings held, and attorneys and mediator involved along with all three boards of education, mayors and council presidents of two towns and lots of highly paid specialists in law and finances.
But at the same time, it is drawing close to the timeline when the boards of education quite frankly have to decide whether they want to keep Dr. Beams on for another two, three or five years beginning next year when her contract expires June 30 of 2024. Or do they want to listen to the many parents who have cast some disparaging remarks about her, expressed in no uncertain terms they think she has failed as an educational leader, and don’t want to see her at the head of their educational program any longer?
Why does it all happen now when regionalization is such a key issue you say? Her contract isn’t even up until next year.
Blame that on state legislation.
According to the law in New Jersey, IF a superintendent is NOT going to be re-hired at the end of his or her term, the boards of education MUST advise the educator one full year IN ADVANCE that he or she is out by June 1 of the following year as spelled out in the contract everyone signed.
Presumably, that law was put into place to give a superintendent time to search around for another job. But by the same token, one wonders if that is fair to the taxpayers. Or the education of the children.
Could it be possible that an educator, annoyed at not being selected for excellence, might get a bit bitter and do a less than perfect or admirable job during that last year? After all, what would he or she have to lose by setting a slower, easier pace for himself, possibly even sloughing off a little bit on principle, or dedication.
It appears each of the boards comprised of elected officials have failed the public in some way in not keeping them aware at an early date of exactly what meetings are underway or getting underway.
It can only be hoped that with Atlantic Highlands and the boards of education both meeting in secret session to discuss regionalization, and the school board reaching out to get some legal advice at this late date, perhaps something is really happening on that issue.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s getting close to enabling the public in these two boroughs as well as their neighbor and friend across the Shrewsbury, Sea Bright, to have their say, be it yea or nay, to a K-12 tri town regionalization to save money and improve educational standards.
