SEA BRIGHT — Borough officials are considering a nonbinding referendum to gather input from the community on whether residents would be in favor of sending students to the Henry Hudson Regional School District.
“This will give direction for the governing body to further explore the option or not,” said Mayor Dina Long at a Borough Council workshop meeting on July 16.
Long reported that borough officials have not received any response from the Shore Regional High School District on their request for a referendum seeking voter approval to change the regional school funding formula so that Sea Bright’s share would be proportionate to the number of students the borough sends to the school.
Borough officials have been battling for a more equitable share of the school tax levy for over a decade. Sea Bright is one of four sending districts that comprise the Shore Regional High School District, which also includes Oceanport, Monmouth Beach and West Long Branch.
Long said the owner of a home assessed at $500,000 in Monmouth Beach would pay $1,340 in regional school taxes this year; in Oceanport, the homeowner would pay $1,855; in West Long Branch, the homeowner would pay $1,840; and in Sea Bright, the homeowner would pay $2,755.
“We pay twice as much as the other towns,” she said.
The deadline for putting the nonbinding referendum on a ballot is Aug. 14, officials said.
Township attorney Pat McNamara said he would research whether a nonbinding referendum could be held without input from the Shore Regional High School District.
If not, a resolution could be approved at the next Borough Council meeting moving forward with the nonbinding referendum, he said.
Long said the School Funding Formula Task Force, which is chaired by Councilman Charles Rooney III, has been exploring various options, including the nonbinding referendum, which she said she believes would draw the strongest response from parents, their children and taxpayers.
Rooney has been in discussions with the Henry Hudson Regional District, which is a K-12 TriDistrict made up of Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and the Henry Hudson Regional District.
Marianne McKenzie, a member of the task force, said she is concerned with the inference to the public that the governing body was only looking at joining Henry Hudson Regional by pursuing a nonbinding referendum.
She said it must be made clear that the borough has no authority to leave Shore Regional and to join Henry Hudson Regional.
McKenzie said she agrees that the idea of joining Henry Hudson Regional would involve significant changes in academics as well as sports.
Also, she said the public needs to know that there are other alternatives that are being looked at, including a push on the legislative level to change the funding formula for regional school districts from one based on the equalized value of real estate in each sending district to a per-pupil formula.
A Town Hall meeting is planned for Sept. 2 to inform the community of the various options that borough officials are pursuing toward achieving a fair share of the regional school funding formula.