Meeting
Taxpayers and all parents of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands! I think you owe it to yourselves, your bank accounts, the boroughs, and most importantly the children of these two towns to attend Tuesday evening’s meeting at Henry Hudson Regional School regarding regionalization.
The meeting starts at 6:30, it’s in the gym, and it’s all three boards of education. Be prepared to struggle to hear well and try to identify each of the board members since it’s difficult to see their name cards or in some cases, their faces.
Cost
Before you go to the meeting, think about this. Taxpayers in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands now pay about TEN million dollars a year to educate kids in both towns at Henry Hudson Regional School. Then they pay another roughly $5,000,000 a year in each elementary to educate the kids in the two towns. schools. That’s over ELEVEN million dollars spent on education, split almost equally between two towns.
Common Sense
For the past four years, study after study have shown that not only could education be increased and I proved at all levels in each of these schools, but the costs could be less than it is now. How could that happen? Simply by bringing Sea Bright into the mix. Our neighboring town only has a handful of students, but they have another million dollars to throw in. So let me ask you, if education can be improved and expanded, and three towns can split the bill rather than two towns, and that third town is bringing in money of its own, doesn’t that make it better for the student and the taxpayer?
Legal Advice
The Tuesday night meeting is a special meeting identified in the legal advertisement as a time when the Atlantic Highlands, Henry Hudson Regional and Highlands Boards of education will meet simultaneously in a jointly conducted special Tri-District Board of Education meeting.
They said it before, and reiterated it in the legal, that the meeting will go into closed session right after the Pledge to the flag. Purpose of that closed session is so the board members, in private, can “receive legal advice from Counsel.” No counsel is named, so we don’t know exactly which lawyer is giving them advise the public can’t hear. Each of the boards has its own attorney.
Do They Listen to What the Public Wants???
When they come out, of course they’re going to listen to the public. They did that in Atlantic Highlands, remember? It was about three years ago when the public proclaimed loud and clear they wanted Mother Theresa School to be senior citizen housing. Council listened. Then even while in the midst of negotiating with the Church, they opted to change the idea, tear down the school and thrift shop, and put in possibly 13 houses. They listened, they just didn’t do what the public indicated it wanted.
So, the school boards, I am certain, will also listen.
Two Votes
But after they hear all the talks from whoever wants to express an opinion at the meeting, they’re going to take two votes; the first vote is to decide whether to withdraw from the joint petition already in front of the state Commissioner of Education requesting regionalization including Sea Bright.
Once that question is out of the way, they’re going to act on a second resolution. This one is to submit a new petition to the Commission asking for approval to create a regional district without Sea Bright. That means they want to take the three schools that already do stuff together, and split the cost two ways, and make it official that instead of coming under three different boards they’re all come under one Board of education split between the two towns.
Next?
Whoa, wait a minute. What happens next? IF they vote yes on both of these resolutions, is there yet another expensive regionalization study that has to be done to see if their second idea..which has been considered and studied for four years now and NOT recommended before… makes sense and gets approval?
Does this mean starting from scratch in spite of all the time and money that’s been spent so far? I wonder if this mean that more than four years of study, talk, meetings, money just goes down the tubes and we all start from scratch again like nothing ever happened?
Could it mean that the people will never get the chance to have the question on a ballot so they, the parents and taxpayers, could have a say?
Last Action Item on the Agenda
That’s the end of the action for Tuesday’s meeting. It doesn’t say anything about the other possibility that’s been floated. That is, maybe, if Sea Bright doesn’t face any lawsuits from anyplace, the Tri-District might consider them again some time in the future? If that’s so, that means yet another round of talks, meetings, attorneys, and expenses? Does that mean another few years of paying attorneys and professionals to decide whether splitting a sum of money three ways instead of two is easier on the taxpayer?
Regionalization Denied?
Then there’s always the question what happens if the Commissioner rejects the idea of the three schools in the two towns that already do a bunch of stuff together, being denied the right to regionalize by the Commissioner. What’s the next plan of action? Or supposing the Commissioner says yes, the two towns could save some money, but 3,4 or 5 years down the road they should think about spreading out and getting a little larger, like say, including Sea Bright to split the cost three ways. Are the taxpayers going to have to fund those new studies, etc.? One more time? All the studies so far came up with the same results, namely, it’s a good move to include Sea Bright now and split educational costs three ways instead of two.
Why aren’t the Councils Taking Control???
Consider me a slow learner, but I still haven’t had anybody explain to me why if this is all about who is paying all the bills, why aren’t the councils taking control? They’re the ones who collect the taxes, write the checks to the schools, pay all the salaries. Why don’t they get a say into how many towns are going to kick in to this education? And then, why don’t the governing bodies leave it up to the public to decide with a ballot.
Do the Math!
Nobody is even talking about the million dollars or so Sea Bright would bring into the two towns if they became part of the district right from the start. That’s what the new law supported by the entire Legislature and the Governor was designed to do. Let me try again to make this simple.
Right now, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands each kick in about five million dollars every year to support the education of the approximate 200 kids who go to school there. IF Sea Bright joins the district, even if they weren’t bringing their million dollars or so with them a handful of students, what works better for the taxpayer….paying ten million dollars split between two, or paying ten million dollars split among three?
Does anybody do the math? This is an educational system. The idea is to promote more opportunities for more education, and by the way, it also helps that the better way also saves taxpayers money. Doesn’t that sound like a reasonable idea?
Past stories on regionalization
