Howell students to
have school choice
in September

A resolution permitting a group of 199 eighth-graders from Howell to appeal their school assignment to Howell High School and instead attend Freehold Township High School was approved by members of the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education on Monday.

Board members Bernice Hammer of Freehold Borough and Marlene Caruso of Freehold Township voted against the resolution. The other seven members of the board voted in favor.

In a vote taken on Aug. 27, the board assigned these 199 students to Howell High School, effective in September. The area which was redistricted previously was assigned to Freehold Township High School.

However, since the board at its Jan. 28 meeting voted to maintain current attendance boundaries for the 2002-03 school year, the resolution that was voted on Monday noted that "in the interests of fairness" the decision should apply to all students, including those in the Howell attendance area previously described.

The passage of the resolution by the board will permit the parents or guardians of the 199 identified eighth-graders to file an attendance appeal in the office of the superintendent not later than March 15. Essentially, these students now have the opportunity to select which school they want to attend — Howell or Freehold Township.

The resolution indicates that the appeals will be granted by the superintendent.

Streets and boundaries are indicated in the resolution as follows: the subject area begins at the Howell-Jackson border, east just north of Church Road to Kent Road, north just west of Kent Road to Route 9, north along Route 9 to Aldrich Road, east along Aldrich Road to Windeler Road, northwest of Windeler Road to Georgia Tavern Road, east of Georgia Tavern Road to West Farms Road, and west below West Farms Road to Route 9.

During the public portion of Monday’s meeting at Freehold Borough High School, Freehold Township Mayor Gene Golub questioned the wording of the resolution, noting that the last paragraph implied that appeals would be determined at the discretion of the superintendent.

James Collins, the board’s attorney, said, "The discretion is with the individual parents to file, if they so desire. There’s no discretion from the superintendent’s office."

— Dave Benjamin