BY ELANA ARON
Correspondent
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – It’s back to school on Sept. 7 for Freehold Township elementary school and middle school pupils.
William J. Setaro, formerly an assistant superintendent in Freehold Township, returned as superintendent of the district on July 5. He had served for the past six years as superintendent of the Millstone Township School District.
“It feels like coming home,” said Setaro, who will oversee the district’s eight schools, 4,600 students and 750 teachers.
Setaro said he expects the coming year to be an exciting and productive one.
“Our curriculum has been revised and we’ve made advances in technology,” he said. “This is an exemplary school district. The teacher in the classroom is what matters to us. If you give teachers a good curriculum and the resources they need, it works.”
Setaro is proud of Freehold Township’s new partnership with the Douglass Developmental Disability Center, which will service special needs children on-site at the district’s Early Childhood Learning Center, Stillwells Corner Road.
“With this joint venture, we’ll be providing outstanding services to our children,” he said. “It’s one of the best in the state.”
Setaro said thousands of dollars will be saved by educating youngsters at the Early Childhood Learning Center who otherwise would have been transported to out-of-district schools. He said he believes the pupils will benefit from the warm and caring environment at the Early Childhood Learning Center.
“It’s a win-win situation,” he said.
Setaro did, however, express concern about public education throughout the state.
“We’re very concerned about public education in New Jersey,” he said. “We have to tighten our belts while doing our best for our kids. We’re in serious straits here. A lot of our tax money doesn’t get back to the people. Half of state funding went to 31 (special needs) districts. The other half (of the available state funding) had to be divided among 500 districts. We need to cut our expenses and increase our revenue and offer the same services at lower costs. The next few years will be very telling. There needs to be a public outcry. We need to get the message [for a change in the school funding formula] to our elected leaders.”
In addition to the Early Childhood Learning Center, the district includes the Applegate, Catena, Donovan, Errickson and West Freehold elementary schools, and the Barkalow and Eisenhower middle schools.