Regionalization and Sea Bright
Without consulting with the new transitional Henry Hudson Board of Education members, and with no objections, comments or questioning from any of the members present at Wednesday’s meeting of the board, Board Attorney Neil Busch told the board and the half dozen residents in attendance that there is very little possibility the question of including Sea Bright in the new regional school district will be on the November ballot in order to give the voters the opportunity to make the decision.
The announcement, in response to a question from the public, stunned the residents, including a Sea Bright Councilman and a Highlands council president.
Yet with Busch shaking his head in agreement, board president Cory Wingerter declined the public the right to speak any further or ask any questions. None of the board members asked any questions, made any statement or showed any reaction to Busch’s stunning statement.
Busch cited four different reasons why he does not think the public will get to vote on the school question in November. First, he said, “there are lots of issues,” and furthermore, the superintendent, board and all involved in the current preK-12 regionalization process “have a tremendous amount of work” to do. While they expected the start of the new regionalization would be difficult, “it’s worse” than they thought.
While Busch pointed out that Oceanport and Shore Regional, whose first attempt at halting Sea Bright from joining the regionalization was denied by the state Board of Education, has filed a second legal action, one that is ongoing and the attorney does not think that will be resolved in time for a November ballot question. It is burdensome, he said, and frustrating, but said the issue must be decided before residents can vote on including Sea Bright.
Furthermore, he said, it has been very expensive, although he did not elaborate on how the cost of litigation has anything to do with allowing the public to cast ballots.
The Board of Education, not the borough councils have to approve the question on the ballot, Busch continued, and with some board members reluctant, it is difficult to get a question on the ballot without “unification.” Busch did not elaborate on how he knew there was so little unification that it could not be discussed and resolved by school board members in time to let the people make a choice in November.
His final reason for feeling the questions won’t make it on the November ballot, Busch said, is because the school district did not participate in the new study that Sea Bright had done, an update of the original studies done by both the boroughs and the school district. The second report, in which the school did not participate, resulted in findings very similar in fact and conclusion as the original study done years before.
But Busch’s comments ended discussion of regionalization, when he shook his head in the negative when residents asked to speak.
Only minutes before the attorney made his prediction, Highlands Council president Joann Olszewski , who is that borough’s liaison to the board, pointed out that based on the sum of the budgets approved by the two elementary schools last year, coupled with the 7-12 school budget for the same period, it appears, the proposed budget for the new regionalization district is more than $1 million higher and considerably more than the 2 percent increase in taxes permitted by any school district. Although she was told that was not true, there were no explanations nor presentations of any other facts.
The budget was introduced last month and a public hearing has been set for May 6 at 6 p.m. at Henry Hudson Regional School. Itemized items on the budget will not be published until after the public hearing.
