Education committee begins
to determine scope of work

MARLBORO — The Marlboro Advisory Committee on Education (ACE), co-chaired by Mayor Matthew V. Scan-napieco and Township Councilman Barry D. Denkensohn, met for the second time to address the redistricting issues facing Marlboro with regard to the Freehold Regional High School District.

The agenda for the meeting included the assignment of steering committee members to subcommittees, which will include other volunteers, a review of the issues requiring research, polling for public opinion, and a timetable for the components necessary for the report which will be submitted to the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education prior to the June deadline.

High school district administrators have indicated that the board plans to vote in June on student attendance area assignments that will become effective in September 2003.

Guest speakers at the ACE meeting included attorney Lance Kalik and Dr. David Abbott, superintendent of Marl-boro’s K-8 school system.

Kalik has been retained as counsel to represent Marlboro with regard to redistricting issues. His presentation to the ACE steering committee dealt with explaining the procedural differences between withdrawal from a limited purpose regional school district vs. dissolution of the district.

According to a press release from the Marlboro Office of Public Information, the presentation was for informational purposes only, at the present time, since no option regarding redistricting has been decided upon.

Abbott’s presentation to the ACE steering committee discussed the history of high schools in the United States, urban vs. suburban, facility size vs. quality of education, and research with regard to student achievement and classroom size.

According to the press release, the ACE steering committee has determined a need for the following subcommittees, which will provide research and input for inclusion in the final report, which will be presented in a public information forum prior to submission to the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education:

• Expansion of current facilities;

• Educational issues;

• Demographics for the sending towns and high schools;

• Financial and equitable issues;

• Procedures involving withdrawal and dissolution, cost analysis, feasibility, impacts on quality of education;

• Alliances with other public officials; and

• Public awareness — getting out the vote.

Mission statements and goal directives for each subcommittee are being drafted. A letter describing the nature of the work that will be undertaken by the subcommittees will be mailed to all volunteers who signed up or contacted the Office of Public Information. The steering committee member in charge will schedule subcommittee meetings.

Marlboro is addressing the issues based upon quality of education vs. facilities vs. cost analysis in an effort to provide a long-term solution and file its report in a timely manner, which is equitable for the residents in Marlboro as well as the district as a whole, according to a press release from the Office of Public Information.