EAST BRUNSWICK • JAMESBURG • MILLTOWN • MONROE • SOUTH RIVER • SPOTSWOOD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
ebsentinel.com
Bill changes ‘freeholder’ title to ‘commissioner’
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PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVE WEINBERG
Supporters of vote-by-mail ballots for the election in November demonstrated on Aug. 22 at the East Brunswick Post Office on Cranbury Road to ensure a proper election process.
Jamesburg will opt for all-remote learning through Nov. 1
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nterim Superintendent Dennis Filippone announced the Jamesburg Public School District will implement a fully virtual reopening plan through Nov. 1. “On behalf of the Jamesburg Board of Education, administration and staff, I will do my best to give you the latest information on the reopening of schools in September,” Filippone said in a prepared statement. “Please understand that all of the changes and unknowns that I will explain in this letter have not been caused by the board or the administration here in Jamesburg.” In late June, Filippone said the school district received guidance from the Department of Education (DOE) outlining what standards schools needed to meet to
reopen. The school district developed a plan for a hybrid-only model with students attending school in person two days per week. “The guidance from the state at that time was that no plan that involved a fully virtual option was acceptable,” Filippone said in the statement. “In mid-July, the DOE provided us with new guidance mandating that we offer a virtual choice to our parents. We did surveys and almost 40% of our parents chose the virtual option.” At a board meeting in July, Filippone presented the proposed reopening plan to the board and the public. The plan included both the fully virtual and in school options. The plan was submitted to the county superintendent and was approved the first
week in August. From June 1 through Aug. 12, Filippone said the DOE was clear that an inperson option must be offered. During his Aug. 12 press conference, the governor once again changed his position to allow school districts that meet certain standards to go fully virtual. “Jamesburg will be filing a plan … that we hope will allow us to open schools on a fully virtual platform for the month of September,” Filippone said in the statement. “This will allow our district to meet all of the standards set forth in the reopening plan and to train our teachers in all of the safety and online teaching protocols we have developed.” (Continued on page 12)
ay goodbye to the centuries-old title of freeholder in New Jersey county government. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has signed Senate bill 855 into law and the legislation requires the title of “chosen freeholder” to be changed to “county commissioner” and all “boards of chosen freeholders” to be known as “boards of county commissioners,” according to a press release from Murphy’s office. The law also requires county governments to update their letterheads, stationary and other writings, as well as their websites, to bear the title of county commissioners in place of freeholders or chosen freeholders within one year of the bill’s effective date, Jan. 1, 2021. The law does not require counties to update or replace signs or other writings to reflect this title change within the specified timeframe if doing so would require the expenditure of county funds, according to the press release. In those cases, the title would be changed whenever the writing is next updated or replaced in the ordinary course of business. “We have an obligation to ensure that governance in New Jersey is inclusive and representative of the tremendous diversity of our great state,” Murphy said. “Amid a national reckoning to re-examine vestiges rooted in structural racism, this action will eliminate the use of the term ‘freeholder’ in county government – a title that is an outgrowth of a time when people of color and women were excluded from public office.” In a statement issued on Aug. 24, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, all five of whom are Democrats, said, “We are pleased to see the Governor and the Legislature take action to retire the title of ‘chosen freeholder.’ “This term dates back to an era in which people of color, women and those without financial means were not treated as equals – and is not representative of the ideals which we all aspire to today. “We are pleased to see this title be (Continued on page 16)