At a special meeting not advertised on any of the three boards of education websites, but which one board attorney said was legally advertised in all the correct places, members of the three local boards of education unanimously approved a resolution approving an agreement with Shore Regional High School and Oceanport schools but failing to let the public know the terms of the agreement.
This action came Tuesday night at a 6 p.m. meeting of the Henry Hudson, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands boards of Education held at Henry Hudson with a majority of members of each of the three boards present.
Board President Karin Masina
Following the routine agenda of meeting opening procedures and a public comment period in which, in response to questions a board administrator said the meeting was advertised in Saturday’s Asbury Park Press and Star Ledger, the board went into executive session, excusing the four residents present for the meeting from the room.
Henry Hudson Board attorney Jonathan Busch responded during the public portion that state law on legal advertising indicates that a board only has to notify a newspaper, but there is no obligation for publication of that notice . However, the administrator confirmed the meeting was advertised in the newspapers three days previous. It was not posted on any of the three board of education website pages nor on any of the school pages.
Board members present at the opening of the executive session, in addition to Highlands board member Rebecca Kane-Wells, who came in after the executive session began, remained in the executive session for an hour and 20 minutes, before opening the public portion and passing the resolution based on, the resolution reads, “in accordance with the options discussed in closed session with legal counsel….”
Board members would not discuss what the options were after Busch read the resolution publicly and the meeting was adjourned minutes later.
The resolution approved without the options discussed which the residents are not permitted to know until after the resolution is made part of the official minutes of the meeting and approved at the next board meetings, is attached Below.
The resolution, which was made available to a resident’s request by the administrator, gives the history of the legal battle being waged by Shore Regional and Oceanport , both of whom object to Sea Bright leaving their district and joining the Henry Hudson Regional District.
Currently, Sea Bright, which does not have a board of education, sends its fewer than 55 students to those two districts and requested to join Highlands and Atlantic Highlands as a tri-town regional board, indicating their inclusion would mean an additional $2 million to offset school taxes for taxpayers, without adding additional costs to the district.
Because of the litigation, voters in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands approved a regional school that eliminates the three boards of education currently running the three schools in the two towns, with the understanding Sea Bright could be included by another vote “as soon as possible.”
The three boards will have their final meetings in June, and are no longer in existence as of July 1, in accordance with the new regionalization plan. A transitional board selected by themselves from members of the three boards, is the official board of education until 2025. A new nine member Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education will be elected in November and assume office Jan. 1, 2025.
5-28-2024 – HHRS Board Cert of Resolution
Read All of our coverage on Regionalization HERE
