By Allison Perrine
SEA BRIGHT – Three Two River area towns want residents to weigh in on the idea for a new regional school district, pre-K through grade 12, in Sea Bright, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.
At the July 20 Sea Bright council meeting, officials approved a resolution authorizing the Morristown-based legal firm Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., to prepare and submit a petition to the state commissioner of education asking for a referendum on the proposal for an all-purpose regional school district. The goal is to have Atlantic Highlands and Highlands approve similar resolutions as soon as possible so that should the state approve the reconfiguration, the towns can move quickly, said Sea Bright councilman Charlie Rooney III.
“We don’t want to get caught in a position where we’re not being proactive on our end,” said Rooney July 20. “We want to make it so that Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright are prepared to move forward when necessary.”
The idea was initially brought by Sea Bright to the other two municipalities with the belief that all three communities would benefit both educationally and financially from the new school district. That notion was put to the test in 2020 when the three towns retained services for a report that analyzed the potential financial, demographic and educational impacts of a new school district. According to the study, it projected that each town would have its total tax levy “reduced by at least $450,000 by the 2023-24 school year.”
“Such savings will have a significant impact on each community’s ability to continue to provide exceptional services, while maintaining taxes at a reasonable and affordable level,” an open letter to residents from the three boroughs states.
The study also concluded that the new district could benefit students from the three communities educationally in a pre-K through 12 school. Additionally, Sea Bright could bring “increased financial resources that would provide for greater investments in education resources, programs, and services,” the letter continues, and the new district could create “a more diverse learning environment, which has a significant positive educational impact on students from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.”
Currently, Sea Bright is a consolidated member of the Oceanport School District and has been since 2009. The town sends its students in grades pre-K through 8 to Oceanport, made up of two schools – Wolf Hill Elementary School for grades pre-K through 4 and Maple Place Middle School for grades 5 through 8. Then Sea Bright students attend Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch.
Atlantic Highlands and Highlands each have a kindergarten through sixth-grade school that operates under the Henry Hudson Tri-District partnership. Beginning in seventh grade those students attend Henry Hudson Regional High School. According to the study, Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Henry Hudson Regional entered a series of shared services agreements “that demonstrate a tremendous degree of partnership and alignment of administration that will be of great importance in a successful regionalization.” There is one superintendent for Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Henry Hudson Regional, and shared services for technology services and the business administrator, supervisor of special education and supervisor of curriculum and instruction.
Additionally, the three districts utilize a shared curriculum development and implementation office “that provides strong learning connections across the schools and grade levels,” the study continues, where teachers at all three schools write the curriculum for all grades, kindergarten through grade 12. “This level of articulation will be exceptionally helpful in the transition to a new All-Purpose regional district,” it states.
During the July 20 meeting, Atlantic Highlands resident Mark Fisher said he was very interested in the idea and asked if officials planned on hosting a town hall-style meeting so members of the public can hear the detailed plans and ask questions. Sea Bright Mayor Brian Kelly said he spoke with the mayors and businesses administrators of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, and all agree that they want to have town hall meetings in each municipality with full participation.
“We haven’t set any dates yet though,” said Kelly.
The goal is to get the referendum on this November’s ballot but the borough is “not overly optimistic” that it will meet that deadline, said business administrator Joseph Verruni. Kelly guessed that it would be a 2022 general election question.
This article originally appeared in the July 22-28, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
