Superintendent, Board President Encouraged by Cerf’s Visit

Acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf’s visit to Freehold may yield additional discussions with state officials about challenges facing the district, Superintendent Elizabeth O’Connell said.

“We’ve been asked to submit a funding plan to address what we need to increase student achievement. State Sen. Jennifer Beck said she may be planning a few more trips to Trenton for some of us to follow up on information we shared with the commissioner,” O’Connell said during a Board of Education meeting at Park Avenue Elementary School on Monday.

Cerf joined Beck and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, both R-12, at Red Bank Primary School and Park Avenue Elementary School on Monday. The legislators invited Cerf to highlight the educational efforts of both districts, which are currently funded below what the state considers an adequate level.

“I felt he really listened. I felt he understood what our initiatives are,” O’Connell said.

Declining state aid and increasing enrollment in recent years have caused problems with overcrowding at the Park Avenue Complex, which houses both Park Avenue Elementary School and Freehold Intermediate School.

“We took him on a tour of the facility and he did see the issues we have with facilities. He definitely understood that it’s just not programs, but that it’s instructional space that we need to run these programs,” O’Connell said.

Board of Education President Annette Jordan said Cerf seemed well versed in the district’s history and administrators’ concerns.

“It was encouraging,” Jordan said.

In a press release issued by the 12th legislative district, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon said education reform in the state is necessary but Freehold Borough and Red Bank a unique circumstances.

“We have systemic problems that need addressing, but there are some instances where a blanket solution will not suffice,” O’Scanlon said in the release. “They are only two out of only fourteen districts in the state that are funded at more then 20 percent below adequacy. They each do a great job at doing more with less, but perhaps we can find a way where they won’t have to.”