Volunteers Needed To Pay It Forward In Seaside Heights

Written by Patch Editor Patricia A. Miller

When Superstorm Sandy slammed into Seaside Heights, flood waters ripped through the Hugh G. Boyd Elementary School, and left over a foot of water inside the building.

The damage from the historic storm shuttered the 46-year-old school on Bay Boulevard for the rest of the school year. Students from the school were housed inside Central Regional High School for the remainder of the year.

All that will end on Sept. 4, when the school opens for the first time since last Oct. 29.

And Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides wants to make sure the playgrounds are ready for the children.

Parlapanides is looking for volunteers on Saturday, Monday and especially Tuesday for the three-day building project at 1300 Bay Boulevard.

"The more people, the better," he said.

Saturday is a construction day. Monday is a "make-up" day if more time is needed. Tuesday the playground equipment will be installed.

"Tuesday is the big, big day," Parlapanides said.

Volunteers who help on Tuesday should arrive by 7:30 a.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided and a "super nice and popular" celebrity will also be on hand, he said.

Enrollment is teetering around 174, down from the roughly 225 students enrolled before Sandy hit. But Parlapanides is hoping to hit 200 by the time the school doors open.

"Some families still haven't been able to get back to Seaside Heights," Parlapanides said.

Central Regional took over the administration of the school in 2012, at the request of the Seaside Heights Board of Education. Toms River Regional had previously provided the services. But Board President Todd Genty said last year the board wanted to distance itself from disgraced former Toms River Regional superintendent Michael J. Ritacco.