Seaside Park Officials Have 'No Intention' of Pulling 9 Students Out of Toms River Regional
Eventually 'every Seaside Park child' will go to Toms River, not Central Regional, Martucci says
The nine Seaside Park students who are already attending Toms River schools won't be going back to the Central Regional school district, Borough Administrator Robert Martucci said today.
Martucci said the roughly $10,000 in tuition for each student will be paid to Toms River Regional in the fall.
The students had previously attended Toms River schools free of charge, under an arrangement made back when former Toms River schools superintendent Michael J. Ritacco was at the helm. Ritacco, who lives in Seaside Park, is awaiting trial for federal corruption charges. He resigned after his arrest in October.
The parents of the nine students requested that their children be allowed to attend Toms River schools, he said.
"Our children will continue to go to Toms River," Martucci said. "These children will get paid for. These children will have their tuition paid."
But Martucci declined to discuss just who or what entity would be picking up the tuition tab.
"Right now that's being discussed with our attorney...on how it can be done and it will be done," he said.
Toms River Regional schools Superintendent Frank Roselli informed Seaside Park officials on April 27 that the previous tuition-free arrangement would end. The district will have a new sending-receiving agreement with Seaside Park, Roselli said.
But Seaside Park has been a sending district of the Central Regional school district since Central Regional was formed back in 1954. Prior to that, Seaside Park students went to Toms River schools. But the Toms River district grew so quickly, there was no longer any room for Seaside Park students, so they ended up going to Central Regional.
Seaside Park paid Central Regional through the "turnstile" method, or per capita, until 1976, just like the other four towns in the district.
But things changed in 1976, after the state Legislature changed the tuition payment method for regional school districts from head counts to a formula based on an individual town's property values. The tuition payment change was gradually phased in over a five-period.
Seaside Park later filed suit against Central Regional in 2007, claiming that the tuition method was unconstitutional. But a judge later ruled against Seaside Park and dismissed the case. Thirteen individual Seaside Park residents appealed the ruling in October 2010. The matter is still pending.
Seaside Park has tried to discuss a "phase-out" of borough students from the Central Regional district for several years, he said.
"We have an obligation to our community to not allow them to overpay for education," Martucci said.
Seaside Park closed the Seaside Park Elementary School last year and now has a sending arrangement for K-6 students with Toms River Regional. Former County Schools Superintendent Bruce Greenfield recommended back in 2008 that Seaside Park align itself with a K-12 district. Central Regional accepts grades 7-12.
"If you are looking at education, you have to go to a K-12," Martucci said. "It has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with what's right and what's wrong. Eventually every Seaside Park child will be in Toms River."
The Berkeley Township Council passed a resolution at the Feb. 22 meeting authorizing special counsel to file an action before the New Jersey state Commissioner of Education against the Toms River Regional Board of Education, Ritacco, and the other constituent municipalities and boards of education of the Central Regional School District.
The Township Council is seeking an order from the DOE commissioner state to include Seaside Park students in grades 7 through 12 — who currently attend schools in the Toms River school district — in the count of students in the Application for State School Aid [ASSA] . The AASA is submitted each school year by the Central Regional School District to the state Department of Education.
Not including the nine students in Central's ASSA count would increase Central Regional's tax levy on the taxpayers of the four other sending towns by $421,00 beginning on July 1, Berkeley Township Council President Karen Davis has said.
Come back to Berkeley Patch on Friday for Seaside Park officials' take on the defeated Central Regional budget battle.
Jose Deer
8:45 pm on Thursday, June 2, 2011
Keep up the great work Seaside Park and break the corrupt hold Central Regional cabal has.....they dont care about your children, only your wallets.....next the homeowners in South Seaside Park need to secede !
SP resident
8:01 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
really? . . Have you talked with the officials over here? I have. I don't hear them talk about the benefit to our children very often . . . only to say something about the "continuity of education" once in awhile (which i guess continuity of education is solely about curriculum since the current arrangement involves our children going to one school up to 5th grade and then when all the children from that school move on to 6th grade our handful of kids get whisked from all the friends they have made to go to a completely different middle school . . . and then just one year later it is currently up to the parent to "petition" to be allowed to remain in the TR school district). I guess to some that make sense? it doesn't for my child. On a side note almost all of the current 6th graders chose to return to the central regional school district for 7th grade. i think that says an aweful lot.
Could you tell me how SP has shown they care for the children of the town and not just money? honestly . . . i am legitimately interested in what those that support the town are supporting . . . aside from lower taxes . . .that i understand and get (i too am a tax payer).
John Anderson
9:10 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
Toms River schools are much better than any school in Badvile.
piney 53
10:13 pm on Thursday, June 2, 2011
does any one know who pays for the SSP kids to go to TR schools. I can never get an answer . I wish that someone would investigate this.
SP resident
7:15 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
currently the SSP BOE pays for the send and receive arrangement with Toms River for our K-6 graders. After that it is currently an individual agreement between the parents of the student and the TR BOE to allow the children to remain in TR for free from 7-12. This is the arrangement that just changed. The children in 7-12 will now have to pay. And although or borough claims it will not be footing the bill for it . . . options are "being looked into" to cover the cost.
Eagleguy
7:08 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
Must be nice to have a town foot the bill for 9 students to go to school. What about the kids that go to lavalette and Mon Don are they going to pay for them too? Maybe their "foundation" can pay for them.
SP resident
7:34 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
I am pretty sure those of us that chose to pay tuition to other districts/private schools to take our kids out of this mess will not be seeing any reimbursement. I think as a private "foundation" you can pick and choose who and what you pay for . . . I can't imagine that the children that attend others schools will fit into the "lets pay their tuition" category. But if anyone knows otherwise . . .
John Anderson
9:12 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
That would be an ideal situation of having the foundation pay for any student tuition to go to any where but Central. It probably would still be cheaper than paying the outrageous taxes to Central for a second class education.
Joe Semiraro
8:56 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
It's only about the money. It always is. Berkeley Township doesn't want to loose the income, and South Seaside Park doesn't want to over-pay. You can't blame either side, and it's really that simple. Unfortunately it's not about the welfare of the children. If the educational system weren't funded by property taxes, this would be a non-issue. Townships need to live within their means and not look at children with dollar signs in their eyes. If you took the government out of the equation and looked at this situation logistically and logically, you would have to agree that South Seaside Park should not be part of Berkeley Township. But, as the government is the real problem here, what the two sides should do is to stop spending hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars fighting each other, pool our tax dollars, and the two sides should then sue the State for tax reform.
John Anderson
9:16 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
I agree with you 100% once again Joe. Too bad all the politicians in Berkeley know how to do is spend $$$. Even the so called Republicans are government leaches and barely pushed for any cuts to the defeated school budges. Thanks again Mr. Amato and Ms Davis for nothing.
Dahlia Rose
9:21 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
Finally, finally someone rational on this issue - thank you Joe! It really is about the money and "looking at the children with dollar signs in their eyes". You hit the nail on the head. I am a Berkeley resident and one of the few (I thought) that could see the issue from both sides. It is a mess and your suggestion for pooling our resources and going after the State on funding/tax reform is a great one.
skizma
6:52 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Yes, this is basically what it all boils down to. But, SSP would still be paying a large amount per pupil no matter what school district it enters. School tax is NOT based on how many students a town sends. It's based on your home values. SSP has high home values, whether they go to Central, TR, Point Pleasant....they will still have a high amount of school tax. I simply see this as a tax complaint. Taxes are relevant to your income. Just like the rest of us. It's all proportionate. Every member of our society pays school tax for the children within their society. It's called public education. For everyone. So, everyone contributes. I've contributed all my life. I don't expect it to end. But, tax reform could still put you in the same pickle. Higher income pays higher taxes. I'm not sure how they suspect they will get out of it. And, no one should.
no_money_left
10:40 am on Friday, June 3, 2011
Well said Joe - its all about the money.
One side doesn't want to spend it and the other side doesn't want to loose it.