By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – The existence of the 23-year-old Red Bank Charter School has “recklessly added and condoned a structure” of segregation in Red Bank for decades, argued Jared Rumage, Ed.D, the superintendent of Red Bank Public Schools, at last Wednesday’s borough council meeting.
Now, he says, it’s time for a change – one that if completed could be “one of the greatest achievements for Red Bank in this entire century.”
However, Red Bank Charter School’s Head of School Kristen Martello, Ed.D, told The Two River Times that Rumage’s remarks about segregation are “not true” and “demonstrably false.” Currently, the school’s demographics are 53 percent Latino, 40 percent white and 7 percent Black, and any student who comes from a low-income background gets “weighted preference” into the charter school’s random lottery acceptance system.
“Over the last several years, we have invested heavily in our community outreach efforts and have conducted a weighted lottery to increase the number of low-income students and Latinx students at our school,” Martello said. “We are a public school and there are no tests or admissions criteria to attend Red Bank Charter School. Our school is reflective of the families in Red Bank and we are proud of the diverse student population that we serve.”
“We ask that Superintendent Rumage stop the attacks against our families in Red Bank. He is causing deep division in our community and it is very hurtful. Let’s support all families in Red Bank, whether they attend district, charter or private schools,” she said.
At the council’s Nov. 3 workshop session, Rumage urged the governing body to draft and present a resolution to the state Department of Education supporting a rejection of the charter school’s five-year renewal application. According to Rumage, for the past 23 years the charter school “has resulted in a segregated public school system” where the average white student population is “nearly 50 percent” at the charter school; in the public school system, it’s “just 12 percent,” he said. Rumage noted that the statistic wasn’t “cherry-picked” and that it came from “a quarter-century’s worth of evidence.”
“I will let you all make your own assumptions about why the charter school opened, but to me I have my own opinion,” Rumage said to the council.
Martello said Rumage’s claims are “demonstrably false.”
“Red Bank Charter School is not causing segregation. In fact, our school is actually more reflective of the school-age population in our community than the district schools,” she said, demonstrating with a graph from the NJDOE and 2019 American Community Survey five-year estimates for school enrollment by grade for Red Bank. “We are an extremely diverse school. Our school should be celebrated for its diversity rather than attacked.”
But according to Rumage, the same disparity stands for economically disadvantaged students (41 percent average at RBCS, 79 percent average in borough public schools) as well as English language learners and students with disabilities.
“I view this as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for us to do better and be better for all. By closing one door for some children, we can open a multitude of new doors revealing greater social, emotional, academic and athletic experiences for them and every child in Red Bank.”
However, Martello explained that charter schools are public schools and they strengthen the public school system “by offering more children an opportunity for a great public education at a school that works best for them.
“Our school was created by a passionate group of individuals who were committed to giving more children the opportunity for a great education. Over the last 23 years, we’ve done that and it is clear that families want additional educational options in Red Bank,” she said. “Since 1998, Red Bank Charter School has provided our diverse families with an excellent, student-centered educational experience. Now, more than ever, we are providing extra social emotional support to our families to address trauma and learning delays due to a global pandemic.”
The topic has circulated in the community for some time. It’s something Rumage has felt strongly about since 2015, a year after he was appointed in the district, despite it being what he calls “controversial.”
“I think we need to avoid being myopic. I think this discussion should not be about the efficacy of charter schools or as narrow as the closing of a school. This discussion should not even pit schools against one another, although I am confident that a head-to-head comparison puts the Red Bank Borough Public Schools in quite a favorable position,” he said. “I think this conversation needs to be about two things – eliminating structures that promote inequities and what is really best for Red Bank, New Jersey.”
Councilwoman Kathy Horgan said she supports Rumage’s ideas and “took a stand on this five years ago,” the last time the charter school was up for renewal.
“I am for every child getting the best education they can,” said Horgan. “I feel very sternly about this and I hope my fellow council members will follow suit.”
Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, whose child attends a Red Bank public school, said she would first like to see the criteria of what is taken into account in the renewal process as well as what the transition plan would look like should the DOE reject the charter school’s renewal application.
“What we’re talking about is children and the everyday lives of these children,” she said. “I would like to know what the transition plan is for a day – if it comes when the charter school does not exist – that we can explain to our residents what that may look like.”
School board member Jennifer Garcia said, while speaking on her own behalf, that the matter should be prioritized as it presents “an immediate need” that “cannot wait another month.” Her comments follow the Aug. 31 meeting when the Red Bank Board of Education supported a resolution for the non-renewal of charter for RBCS.
Resident and public school parent Lisa McLaughlin echoed a similar sentiment.
“The party is over. The social experiment of the Red Bank Charter School has run its course. The two-track public school system is detrimental to the students of the district school as well as the students of the Red Bank Charter School,” she said. “What you say as a council does hold weight at the DOE so it is not out of your hands.”
“A thorough and efficient education is meant for all of our students and it’s not efficient to have two school districts in a town a mile-square.”
Martello pointed out that RBCS “is an innovative free public school founded on developing the whole child” and offers Red Bank families choice in public school education for their children.
“We have a long-proven record of success in meeting our students’ academic, social and emotional needs,” she said.
The article originally appeared in the November 11 – 17, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
