plan moving forward
for September start-up
Judge dismisses Marlboro
claim against redistricting
Freehold Regional
plan moving forward
for September start-up
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
The Freehold Regional High School District has successfully defended its student redistricting plan against accusations made by the township of Marlboro and two private individuals.
The decision means the FRHSD’s redistricting plan will proceed as scheduled beginning in September.
Under the plan, some high school-age residents of Marlboro will be assigned to attend Colts Neck High School; some residents of Manalapan will be assigned to attend Freehold Township High School; all high school-age residents of Farmingdale will be assigned to Colts Neck; and additional residents of Howell will be assigned to Freehold Township.
"On behalf of the district, I had moved for a voluntary dismissal before we had to put on our case, for failure to meet the burden of necessary proof," said attorney Nathanya Simon, representing the FRHSD. "The judge granted the motion."
On July 1, Simon said Administrative Law Judge Anthony Bruno, sitting in Trenton, found nothing in the record to indicate that the FRHSD Board of Education had not acted in a deliberative reasonable process in devising its student attendance areas.
"He said he agreed with the board’s position that the balancing of enrollment is a legitimate purpose and that the board should utilize all of the facilities it has," the attorney said.
Simon said Bruno relied on documentation the board put together which supported its determination.
"There was nothing in the records that Marlboro brought forward that showed that the board violated its duty in this matter," Simon said. "[Bruno] found that there was no evidence of arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable acts by the board. Therefore, he granted the motion and the case is over."
Simon said the judge had adopted 100 percent of the arguments that were made on behalf of the board. The attorney said the judge’s written decision will be forwarded to both parties and to New Jersey Commissioner of Education William Librera.
Simon said the parties have 13 days to file what is known as a written exception. Then Librera has 45 days to consider the judge’s decision and either affirm, reverse or modify it some way.
"Once the commissioner rules, that’s the final decision in this matter," Simon said. "After that you can appeal it, but that takes years."
Simon said the FRHSD won the case without having to put any witnesses on the stand to give testimony.
"They (Marlboro) failed to meet the burden of proof," Simon said.
The attorney said there were three cases in total: one filed by Marlboro on behalf of all residents and two filed by the parents of Marlboro teenagers who have been assigned to attend Colts Neck High School. Prior to the implementation of the board’s redistricting plan, those students would have been assigned to attend Marlboro High School.
Board members have said redistricting of some students is necessary in order to balance enrollment among the district’s six high schools.
"In the case of R.W. on behalf of M.W. and J.D. on behalf of J.D. (the parents and students), all of the cases were consolidated into this case so that all three cases could be handled at one time," Simon said. "All of them have been dismissed."
The redistricting plan was determined by the court to be valid to go forward.
"We are very satisfied with this outcome and glad that we now have the time, and some additional cost resources from litigation, to assure a smooth transition for all of the students," the attorney said.
FRHSD Superintendent of Schools James Wasser said, "I am extremely pleased with Judge Bruno’s decision to dismiss this lawsuit. He clearly understood that the FRHSD is a regional school district, and as a regional district, students don’t always attend their hometown school.
"I am just glad that this is over and we can finally get back to business. There is a lot of work that needs to be completed over the summer months in order to ensure a smooth opening in September," he said.
Wasser said he recognized that redistricting is often a difficult situation due to the emotional impact on those being transferred.
However, he said that although change is not always easy, neither is it bad.
"All six of our high schools offer the same curriculum, programs and staff training, and Colts Neck is a new, state-of-the-art school," Wasser said. "I have no doubt that the Marlboro students who will be attending Colts Neck in September will receive an outstanding education and will have a wonderful high school experience."
In a statement from Marlboro, public information officer Susan Levine said, "The Township Council and administration have to discuss this matter with the attorney, whether there should be a review of the exceptions and any filings, or appeals. As of yet, there have been no real deliberations."
Councilman Barry Denkensohn, who along with Mayor Matthew Scannapieco testified for Marlboro in court, said, "We’re trying to schedule a special council meeting to meet with our attorney to discuss the issues about the case and to basically brief the rest of the council."
Denkensohn said the council would be briefed as to what the judge’s ruling was, what the attorney thought about the ruling, whether there is any basis for an appeal and how much an appeal would cost the township.
"We will discuss those issues and come to a decision, whether or not we want to move forward," Denkensohn said.
As of Monday morning, no special council meeting had been scheduled for the week of July 7. The council’s next meeting is scheduled for July 17.
Representatives of the FRHSD and the eight sending communities were expected to resume mediation this week on another outstanding issue: the apportionment of the votes on the nine-member school board. Marlboro has said that based on the results of the 2000 census the weighted voting points now assigned to each board member should be changed. Howell has two representatives on the board, while the other seven communities have one representative each.