That petition filed by the Oceanport Board of Education last month seeking to prevent Sea Bright, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands voters from deciding whether they want to form a school regionalization district argues the resolutions approved by elected officials of the boroughs and boards of education are all invalid.
Only the Oceanport Board of Education has the right to seek such action, the petition charges.
“It appears that this is a very transparent attempt to delay the issue as long as possible to prevent the voters from their right make their own choice on the ballot in November,” was the immediate reaction of Kerri Wright, a principal in the Porzio law firm that has been representing the boroughs in their efforts to provide quality education for its students at an economic savings for its taxpayers.
VeniVidiScripto filed a Freedom of Information request with the borough of Highlands to secure the petition filed by Oceanport against that borough, Sea Bright, Atlantic Highlands and the Henry Hudson Regional, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands school boards.
In response to the OPRA request, the borough released the complete 133 page petition filed by Isabel Machado, board attorney for Oceanport school board, and signed by Mark A Patterson, President of the Oceanport Board.
Although the petition indicates Machado filed the petition on behalf of the entire school board, minutes of the board’s last meeting June 22 do not indicate any action was taken at that meeting or any vote taken by the board on the question of having its attorney file a petition. It appears that the filed petition was e-mailed to Patterson as Chairman of the Board, but not to any of the board members.
The next scheduled Oceanport board meeting is the July 27.
The purpose of Oceanport Board’s executive session at the June meeting, while specifying in the regular meeting minutes three possible reasons for their sessions, they do not identify specifically why the executive session is called. Nor do they appear to approve minutes of their past executive sessions.
Referring to the 133 page petition by the Oceanport board, Wright indicated she believes any action like that would be considered “highly premature.”
With many steps that must be completed before the question is on the ballot, including getting the approval of the question by the Commissioner, Wright said “We feel confident the voters of the three towns will have the opportunity to vote in each town on this all important issue.” She added that the Porzio firm will be filing a response to the Oceanport petition shortly.
“At this point,” Wright pointed out, “Oceanport appears to simply be challenging the fact each of the towns and boards passed resolutions with their intention to do something. There is nothing before the Commissioner of Education.”
While each of the six official elected boards has passed resolutions asking the Commission to enable them to put the question on the November ballot to create a K-12 regional school district including Sea Bright, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, the actual petition including the request to put the specific question on the ballot has not yet been forwarded to the Commissioner.
As planned and reported representatives of each of the three communities have been in meetings and discussions which are continuing this week to ensure all agree on the specific wording that will appear on the ballot. Town officials have also noted the Aug. 15 deadline for having a question put on the November ballot and all have indicated confidence they will meet that deadline.
In the 133 pages filed with the Commissioner, Oceanport argues that only a board of education, not a borough, can enter into a resolution to form or enlarge a school district and have the question put on the ballot.
It further argues that the resolutions adopted by the elected governing bodies of Highlands and Atlantic Highlands are also invalid for two reasons: Sea Bright is included in their regionalization proposal and Sea Bright cannot act since it does not have a board of education, and also because laws the petition cites from several years ago do not authorize a regionalization question on a November ballot but rather only on special election ballots in specific months, November not included.
The law enacted this past January, S3488, was designed to enable communities like Sea Bright to take action if they so choose.
It further argues the school boards in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands also passed invalid resolutions since the Sea Bright governing body has no right to pass a resolution calling for the withdrawal of its resident students from Oceanport and Shore Regional schools.
The Shore Regional Board of Education, which is comprised of representatives from Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Oceanport and West Long Branch, has not taken any action nor entered into any communications with the neighboring towns on the question at all since its action five years ago in not allowing a vote in Sea Bright to change the method of funding education.
