New group calls for equal
treatment for all in FRHSD

A citizens group has formed to promote the unity and continuation of the Freehold Regional High School District.

In a letter announcing its formation, the Citizens Organized for Regional Equality (CORE) said they "believe in the strength of the Freehold Regional High School District community. We know how important it is to provide the best education for all of the children of the district in the most optimum educational environment."

The letter is signed by residents of Freehold Township, Freehold Borough and Howell. Listed as members of CORE’s board of directors are the following people: Barry Fulmer, Kathy Heinzel-mann, John C. Jennings, Umesh Rao, Marianne Reynolds, Joan Leimbach, Maria Chaffer, Christine and Tony Giunta, Mindy Levy, Mindy Wille and Carol Robertson.

The CORE directors went on to state that continuing the district "means providing a vision for a better future. It means establishing a forward-looking plan for the 21st century, not a retooling of a highly inequitable redistricting patchwork and band-aid building referendum from the 20th. It means creating a proposal that will bring us together, not one which will divide us.

"It means providing an environment where young adults may experience the educationally enriching and diverse nature of the society that has made our country so great. It also means doing all of these things in ways that are fiscally responsible, using all of our regional school facilities to their fullest capacities.

"And finally, and above all else, it means treating everyone equally with no special treatment for parents and children in any one area."

In its letter, the directors of CORE laid out the principles they said the group will follow:

• No new school construction should be proposed until all underused student spaces are first filled. No new tax obligations should be incurred by taxpayers as long as student spaces remain vacant.

• Before any new school construction is proposed, the regional Board of Education and administration must go on record with a comprehensive redistricting plan detailing how all schools will be filled, stating the number of students who will be redistricted and which schools they will attend once the new construction is completed.

‘These common sense principles form the basis for the practices that have served this district well for almost one half century," the directors said.

"We are currently witnessing a struggle to define what the district is. How it should be structured? What is the best way to alleviate the overcrowding crisis that we are faced with? CORE cares about regional community. CORE will be fighting for the principles expressed here and asks for the support of all citizens living within the district. They all agree on the principles that unite us. Treat us all equally, with no one area given special treatment," the board of directors said.