By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD – Freehold Borough K-8 School District administrators, Board of Education members, parents, teachers and students, as well as borough residents, are still waiting for New Jersey Commissioner of Education David C. Hespe to make a $32 million decision.
District administrators have appealed to Hespe to overturn the decision of voters who rejected two construction referendums and authorize the construction of new facilities that are intended to address the issue of student overcrowding in the district.
The proposed construction package exceeds $32 million and will add about $280 to the annual school property tax bill, according to information the district has previously provided.
At the beginning of 2016, district administrators were hopeful that Hespe might make a decision by Feb. 1. That date came and went.
On April 12, Hespe indicated during a New Jersey Senate Budget Committee hearing that he would make a decision on the Freehold Borough matter soon, but he did not specify a date. As of May 23, his decision was still pending.
Last week, Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said if a decision from Hespe was not forthcoming by June 1, the board members will need to start seriously considering what actions to take and formulate a plan moving forward after consulting with their attorney, Matthew Giacobbe.
If Hespe rules against the school district, Tomazic said, the board members will need to consult with Giacobbe and consider what to do next.
“We remain optimistic the commissioner will rule in our favor,” the superintendent said. “All of our present contingency plans relate to getting started on the construction.”
In other business at the May 23 meeting, the board granted approval to Dr. Liu Chen, an associate professor at Wenzhou University, China, and Dr. Xurong Kong, the director of Asian Studies at Kean University, Union, to conduct classroom observations during the remainder of June.
According to Tomazic, the purpose of the observations is so the educators can learn how Freehold Borough staff members teach English acquisition and handle English-learning students in a daily environment.
The board also granted approval for a partnership between the district and the United Way of Monmouth County. The two entities will cooperate with the YMCA of Western Monmouth County to run the 2016 Early Grade Reading Summer Literacy initiative.
According to the agenda, district personnel will assist in identifying, engaging and enrolling kindergarten through second grade pupils who are the most at risk of sliding in their reading level during the summer and are determined to be reading at or below grade level.
“At risk” is defined by a combination of academic reading level and economic need, according to district administrators.
“(The initiative) allows some of our children of poverty to experience a robust summer program,” Tomazic said. “It also integrates quality reading instruction with the other events of the program to prevent regression of reading ability over the summer for young at risk students.”
Additionally, the board approved the purchase of food service equipment for a total cost of $9,529. The purchase consists of three cold pan serving counters at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school to replace broken equipment, $4,735; one mobile heated cabinet at the Freehold Learning Center to support grade configuration, $2,359; one milk cooler at the Freehold Learning Center to provide additional necessary equipment, $1,658; and one cold food buffet with a table at the Park Avenue Elementary to provide a salad bar, $776.
Finally, the re-employment of Business Administrator and Board Secretary Joseph Howe was approved by the board. Howe’s employment contract will have a base salary of $124,848 and be effective from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.
