ALLENTOWN – Borough officials and administrators in the Upper Freehold Regional High School District remain in discussions regarding the school district’s request to Allentown for support that would allow the district to place a police officer in its buildings beginning in September.
The issue of school security was discussed by council members in closed session following the business portion of the Borough Council’s July 10 meeting, municipal clerk Laurie Gavin confirmed on July 11. No action was taken in public regarding the school security issue.
In response to a request for comment from the Examiner, Board of Education President Patricia Hogan said on July 11, “We are in discussions with Allentown. I cannot get more specific as we have not come to terms.”
Hogan attended the Allentown council’s June 12 meeting and said school board members had voted to hire Class III special law enforcement officers (retired police officers) and assign them to the district’s buildings beginning in September.
She asked the council members for financial support in that endeavor and said the school board was facing a deadline in early July to put the security plan in place for September.
During the June 12 meeting, borough officials indicated that one option would be to have active Allentown police officers handle the school assignments, as opposed to hiring Class III officers.
Hogan said the Township Committee in Upper Freehold has appropriated $50,000 in its municipal budget to pay for armed police officers in the schools. She said school district administrators are waiting to hear if Millstone Township and Allentown will also pledge financial support.
Children of high school age who live in Millstone Township attend Allentown High School through a send-receive relationship between the Millstone Township K-8 School District and the Upper Freehold Regional School District. Allentown and Upper Freehold Township are the two municipalities that make up the regional district.