Regionalization: #1 Is it Fair?

Is it Fair?

The “Tri-Boards” of Education have set Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for a Fair in which persons whom they identify as their experts will give residents the opportunity to review the information that the Boards have presented in the past or during a meeting concerning the question of regionalization for K-12 education.

All information is available on the  tri-district’s website.

It is not clear who the experts are, or whether any member of any of the three boards of education will be present to explain why they are conducting the fair and their own reasons for calling for a special election six weeks before the regular election in November.

Nor have board members spoken about why it is necessary to regionalize these three schools and then have yet another election if regionalization is approved September. 26 in order to bring Sea Bright into the regional plan.

The fair on Tuesday night will consist of tables with the unidentified experts from the district, the legal team and financial consultants. People will be invited to walk around and ask their individual questions.

The proposal for the fair differs from a town hall in that it is not an open event to enable persons to ask questions that all can hear and get responses from the experts that all can hear.

Conceivably, many persons could be asking each of the experts the same question, resulting in the experts repeating the same information numerous times, thereby cutting into time that could be used if all could hear the answers to each question out loud.

It is clear, according to business administrator Janet Sherlock., “Participants will not hear the questions that others ask.”

Ms. Sherlock noted, in response to a request for information on the Fair, that the boards have held multiple meetings since May of 2022 and the feasibility study and presentation are available online. People can attend BOE meetings to have questions asked and answered publicly, she said.

The administrator noted that questions that  are asked that have not already been included in the FAQ will be added to the FAQ and posted and distributed on the districts’ websites and social media.

This is not a Board of Education meeting but rather a Fair in which people can walk around the gym and direct specific questions to each of the professionals paid by the boards to be present at the Fair.