By MICHAEL NUNES
Staff Writer
RED BANK — Hundreds of parents, students and teachers braved Wednesday night’s frigid weather to march on borough hall, asking the council for its support in halting the expansion of the Red Bank Charter School (RBCS).
Assembling at the Red Bank Middle School, the group of around 200, which included parents, students and teachers, marched down Monmouth Street chanting, “To charter school expansion what do we say? No way. We won’t pay.”
They protested the request that the charter school had made on Dec. 1 to the state to double its enrollment to 400 students by the 2018-2019 school year. Currently the charter school receives $1.8 million from the district schools, which is expected to rise should expansion be approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education David Hespe.
“We would have to make cuts to staff and programming, which would lead to increased class sizes. We know that [cutting programs] do not set children up for success,” Carrie Ludwikowski, president of the Red Bank Board of Education, said.
She also mentioned that after-school activities such as sports and music would possibly be on the chopping block should the RBCS be allowed to double its enrollment.
“Anything that is not absolutely mandated would have to be considered,” Ludwikowski said.
The protesters funneled into borough hall during the Jan. 13 council meeting, filling the room and hallway. Parents made their voices heard to council members, asking them to support the borough’s public schools in their fight against the charter school’s expansion.
“In our country, people did not have this level of education. What is happening now is so hard because for a lot of the parents [who come from Latin America] we need our children to go to college and we need them to have a good life,” Maria Santamaria, who originally comes from Mexico and has a son at the Red Bank Primary School, said.
“Please do something to help us,” she concluded tearfully to the Borough Council.
Wayne Woolley, who has two daughters in the district schools, gave the council an idea of the impact the expansion would have.
“Here’s what we know about the financial impact. … If 100 of the 120 students came from the public schools, the school budget would increase by more than five percent and $800,000 in current expenses would have to be eliminated. To put that in perspective, last year a six percent increase in the school budget led to a 12 percent increase in property taxes,” Woolley said.
He continued that over the three years of the charter school’s expansion the district schools would have to cut dozens of teachers.
“Over three years the $800,000 in cuts would climb to $2,000,000 in cuts, which would mean the loss of 25 teachers,” he said.
“I choose to live in Red Bank, and my kids choose the Red Bank public schools. My oldest daughter wants to be an engineer and her sister a doctor. If I had any doubt the Red Bank Public Schools couldn’t help them achieve those ends, I wouldn’t be sending them to school there,” Woolley said.
Superintendent of Schools Jared Rumage also addressed the council as well as parents.
“It is unfortunate that the charter expansion request has caused such discord in our community, and I am hopeful we could end it with harmony.”
Rumage also spoke about the opportunity to dispel the idea that the district schools were not up to par.
“I’m excited that the expansion request has provided all of us the opportunity and the platform to dispel an old story line. It’s irrelevant in 2016, it’s a 20-year-old story. Maybe at one time our schools were not what our community deserved, but that’s not the case today. Today we have schools that our community should embrace and promote — schools that should be the pride of Red Bank.”
He also sought to make it clear that the protest was not anti-charter school, but to the expansion request.
“It’s important to note that the challenge to the expansion is not anti-charter school, it’s not anti-school choice, it’s simply opposition to the expansion at this time. An expansion that can be reapplied for next year,” Rumage said, saying that the expansion would be an unnecessary burden on taxpayers and would “devastate” the work that has been done in the district.
“The residents lose, the Red Bank Borough Public Schools lose, and the charter school loses as well.”
During the meeting the Borough Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution asking Hespe, who is expected to make a decision on the expansion in February, to delay his judgment.
“By expanding [the charter school] there will be dire consequences. Our taxes will rise exponentially,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Horgan.
“We really need more time to study this, to see if having an expansion of the charter school will be feasible. I think it’s only fair that we review what they want to do,” Horgan said.
“We’re going to look at it to see if the expansion is really necessary.”
The Borough Council had made plans to establish a blue-ribbon panel to research how the enrollment expansion would impact taxpayers earlier this month.
At the meeting Mayor Pasquale Menna appointed seven members to the committee, including Horgan as chairwoman. Those other members are:
Barbara Loversidge Boas, who has 40 years of teaching experience in public education.
Jan L. Wouters Esq., who has represented both public schools and charter schools during his career.
Judy DeHaven, who is a former reporter and current vice president for Corporate Communications, CBS Corporation.
Jesse Garrison, who is a lifelong borough resident and served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for 25 years.
Michael Stasi, businessman and original member of the charter school.
Richard J. Angowski Esq., who is counsel in a firm that specializes in municipal and school law.
Jennifer Garcia, who is a resident and business owner in the borough.
Rumage and Business Administrator Debra Pappagallo would attend the panel on behalf of Red Bank Public Schools.
Principal Meredith Pennotti and Business Administrator David Block would represent RBCS.
Eugenia Poulos, chief financial officer for the borough, would also attend the panel.
According to Pennotti, the protesters had a right to defend themselves, but it feels like the Borough Council had overstepped itself in passing a resolution asking to put a pause on a decision regarding the RBCS expansion.
“It’s been my experience that the governing body removes itself from that venue,” she said regarding the resolution. “It really isn’t their jurisdiction.”