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Bass River Medford Medford Lakes Pemberton Pemberton Borough Shamong Southampton Tabernacle Washington Woodland
Vol. 1 - No. 19
Southeastern Burlington County’s News Leader
LRHSD Settles Lawsuit Following Dispute
January 7-13, 2017
Revamped Park Unveiled in Browns Mills
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
SHAMONG–The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Board of Education has paid $81,000 to Penn Jersey Paper Co. (PJP) to settle a lawsuit over the installation of cafeteria equipment throughout Cherokee, Lenape, Shawnee, and Seneca High Schools, according to court documents. Prior to September 2015, there were 13 periods in an instructional day at each of the district’s four high schools. Food was served in each school’s cafeteria during four of the thirteen periods. Students were not permitted to eat elsewhere in the school buildings. Each student was assigned to one of the four 25-minute lunch periods. The multiple lunch periods and assignments ensured that there was enough space for each district student to be able to eat in their respective school’s cafeteria. However, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carol “Lynn” Birnbohm felt there was a necessity to change the student schedule. She sought a schedule that increased instructional time, reduced academic stress, and promoted accountability and personal responsibility. She also wanted students to learn time-management skills. Birnbohm formulated a New Student Schedule Committee to research a variety of possible options. The committee visited several New Jersey school districts, facilitated staff and parent focus groups, and held large group presentations. In September 2015, the LRHSD Board of Education implemented a four-day rotating student schedule, district-wide, at the recommendation of Birnbohm. “The site visits, research and collaboration with multiple district-wide stakeholders have resulted in a schedule that we believe meets the needs of all of our students,” Birnbohm said. The number of periods in a day were reduced to six. The number of lunch periods were reduced from four to one. The single, 50-minute lunch period was dubbed “Community Lunch & Learn”. The Board of Education amended district policies to permit the serving of lunch throughout each school building in preparation for the new schedule. This was the only feasible way to avoid cafeteria overflow and long lines
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PHOTO BY JENNIFER PEACOCK A brother and sister get a push from their father on the merry-go-round at the newly revamped Bayberry Park. By Jennifer Peacock
For the Pine Barrens Tribune
PEMBERTON–The chilly December afternoon could not keep the children and their parents away. Children from toddlers to young teens delighted in the new swings and jungle gyms while moms and dads pushed, pulled and smiled. With their playful chatter in the background, Mayor David Patriarca introduced guests to the revamped Bayberry Park in the Mirror Lake section of town, nestled between West Lakeshore Drive and Reed Avenue. Pemberton Township officials gathered at the park on Dec. 30 not only to praise the township’s public works department, but also to show off their work which created the new layout of Bayberry Park. “All the years in this park—and I worked in the township, chased many people, locked people up and there were people out here doing things they shouldn’t have been doing,” Patriarca told the assembly of residents, officials and Department of Public works staff. “That’s what it used to draw. We’re not going to have that now. We changed the whole climate here. You’re going to be able to walk down here with
your kids now.” Gone are the heavy woods that obscured the park’s view from Reed Avenue, thinned out back in the summer yet still providing some noise buffer for neighbors. Gone also are the basketball courts, which were used more for mischief than shooting hoops. Reed Avenue resident Patty Newhart, who has lived here for 35 years, told the Pine Barrens Tribune that she would never venture to the park, not even during the day. She called it a “nightmare.” She said the trouble that was plaguing the park was uprooted with the trees. With trees cleared and the courts gone, the park no longer attracts those who want to hide what they’re doing. Newhart is delighted with the changes. Now, this park along the lake has a parking lot where the old basketball courts once were. There are swings and slides with straw-covered mulch and seeds. A floating fishing dock will be installed in the spring. This project was just the latest in a string of projects to improve the township’s recreational opportunities for residents. For years now, Pemberton has applied for
$250,000 in county grants to upgrade recreation facilities and parks. While no municipality is guaranteed the full amount applied for, the Bayberry Park project was funded with a $180,000 Burlington County Municipal Park Development Grant. Some of those funds also went to finalize the Mirror Lake Beach/Park Improvements Project. Officials said the township contributed only labor and no additional taxpayer costs. Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez said the work was done in-house, which allowed the township to spend more money on on-site amenities rather than “soft costs” – expense items not directly related to building materials or labor. Patriarca praised the Public Works Department, many of whom were in attendance. “We do appreciate this,” Patriarca said. “And the residents need to understand, when we do something like this, don’t take it for granted, because nobody else is doing this. No other towns are doing this on their own. That’s another thing to be proud of. When (public works) does a project like this, (they) compare themselves to other public works departments. They’re not
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