ALLENTOWN – A former member of the Allentown Borough Council is calling on residents to get involved with legislation that has been proposed on the state level.
Wil Borkowski, a former councilman, addressed Allentown’s elected officials and members of the public during the July 9 meeting of the governing body.
“I would like to speak about a bill that has been introduced by Sen. Vin Gopal. His bill, S-3790, deals with school consolidation and needs a co-sponsor. I have called Sen. (Sam) Thompson’s office to discuss this and I have not heard back from him. If you are going to complain about taxes, call Sen. Thompson and ask him to sponsor this bill. Consolidation is the first step to reducing taxes,” Borkowski.
Gopal (D-Monmouth) has introduced legislation that would, if passed in the state Assembly and Senate and signed into law by the governor, require the state commissioner of education to study the most efficient and effective means of consolidating school districts, with the exception of Pre-K or K-12 districts, into all-purpose regional school districts.
S-3790 was introduced in May and referred to the Senate Education Committee, according to the website www.njleg.state.nj.us. No further action on the bill has been taken.
Gopal’s legislative district covers 18 municipalities in Monmouth County, but does not include Allentown.
Thompson is a Republican senator whose legislative district covers portions of Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Burlington counties and includes Allentown.
In a press release issued at the time the bill was introduced, Gopal said he is “aiming to cut administrative costs and promote a uniform curriculum for students. Studies have shown the consolidation of K-5 and K-8 schools into K-12 districts is one of the most powerful tools we have for cutting education costs and saving taxpayer dollars.
“Not only would consolidation reduce high-cost administrative jobs and redundant work while increasing shared services, consolidated districts would also be able to create uniform curricula to ensure that each child is equally prepared as they move from elementary or middle school to the following grade.
“Should this bill become law, I look forward to reviewing the recommendations made in the commissioner’s report to help our schools consolidate efficiently and effectively. By using an approach that prioritizes gradual attrition over large-scale turnover, I believe we can shrink school expenses while supporting the dedicated teachers who work hard to help our children learn,” Gopal said.
S-3790 provides the commissioner of education with two years to develop and submit to the governor and Legislature a comprehensive master plan to phase out school districts that do not have a preschool or K-12 configuration and to merge those school districts with other school districts. The plan must include recommended legislation, according to the press release.
Allentown and Upper Freehold Township make up the K-12 Upper Freehold Regional School District. The district includes the Newell Elementary School, the Stone Bridge Middle School and Allentown High School.
The Millstone Township School District is a K-8 district. The district includes the Millstone Township Primary School, the Millstone Township Elementary School and the Millstone Township Middle School.
Students of high school age who reside in Millstone Township may attend Allentown High School through a tuition arrangement the Board of Education has with the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education.