School district, township to pursue shared services
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - Municipal officials have hired a consultant to examine the ways in which the township and the Jackson School District can share services.

Proposals for the contract were received from three firms - Jersey Professional Management, Patriot Consulting and the Concorde Group - and were reviewed by the Township Council and the administration.

The council voted to award the contract to Jersey Professional Management, Cranford.

Officials indicated they will pursue a grant from the state Department of Community Affairs Sharing Available Resources Efficiently (SHARE) program.

Township Administrator Phil Del Turco said the program runs in two phases.

"The first phase is a feasibility study and if the state accepts it you will receive aid from the state on the implementation phase," he said.

Allison Erwin, communications specialist with the Jackson School District, said this is one of the steps being taken to move ahead with sharing services that will include the use and maintenance of athletic fields, information technology and transportation.

Erwin said the school district could share some of its technical support or network and server space with the township and expand the use of some of the district's transportation resources for use by the recreation department.

"The township and the school district could also expand access to athletic fields to increase the use of those fields, possibly limiting the need [to construct] additional fields in the future," she said. "Sharing the responsibility of maintaining the fields would help to ensure all of the fields remain in good condition."

"One of things we hear over and over again is that we need more fields," said Councilman Scott Martin, a liaison to the Board of Education. "By working with the board to open up access to their fields for the various recreation programs and in turn opening up access to the town's fields to the school sports programs we are taking an important first step to solving that problem."

The township and the school district may also work together to seek approval from Cablevision for a town-dedicated cable television station; and for the township to assist in recycling efforts at Jackson schools.

"The process of combining some of the efforts of the school district and town is what community is all about," said Councilwoman Emily Ingram, who is also a liaison to the school board.

"Working jointly with the school board will enable us to find cost-saving measures, work more efficiently and increase the quality of our lives here in Jackson," she said.

The municipality and the school district are required to pay $500 each for the submission of the SHARE grant application.