By Joyce Blay
Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD — Whether or not a request for a waiver filed by the Board of Education in November is granted by state Commissioner of Education William L. Librera, the bilingual program that is now housed in trailer modules on the Ella G. Clarke Elementary School grounds will be integrated with the school’s other programs in the main building, according to Dr. Bruce Greenfield, the Ocean County superintendent of schools who ordered the action several weeks ago.
"When I made the decision to have it done by Jan. 1, I believed the change could be done over the holiday break," Greenfield told the Tri-Town News. "I’m sure this (situation) will be rectified fairly soon — either in January or June, if the waiver is granted — but it will be done. The board is very willing to do this and they will do it at some point when it is convenient for them to do so."
Greenfield said that while Librera could decide to take no action on the board’s request for a waiver (seeking permission to wait until June to move the class), essentially turning down the request without formally signing off on it, he did not think the commissioner would do that.
"If he lets my decision stand, then he is giving his tacit approval, but I believe he will make a decision (soon)," said Green-field.
However, the board is preparing to make the change sooner — by early December — if they do not hear back from Librera by then.
"I’m hoping we’ll get a positive answer by the first week in December; otherwise, we’ll start making plans to move the program (to the main school building)," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ernest Cannava. "We’ll have to swap programs with the other classes that are already in progress (which) would be disruptive. It would be much more productive to accomplish the change over the summer."
"I stand by my original decision because (this) is a violation of civil rights statutes and state bilingual regulations which state that a bilingual program has to be located in the main building, while this program is in an annex," said Greenfield.
Greenfield said he does not view the Lakewood board’s placement of the program apart from that of the main student body as intentional.
"You could fill a bookshelf with all the codes and not everybody knows them all," he said, adding that this separation is against statutory code.
James Waters is the head of the Lakewood branch of the NAACP and a member of the Coalition of Advocates for Public School Students (CAPS), whose members first brought the issue to the attention of Greenfield.
"This was a situation that called for a remedy that may not have been popular, but it was right," Waters said. "When you determine that there’s segregation, you correct it if it’s wrong, and in this case it was wrong."