Pine Barrens Tribune February 12, 2022-February 18, 2022

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Vol. 6 – No. 17 ♦

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February 12 - February 18, 2022

‘Top’ School Administrators for Pemberton Twp. District Assailed by Teachers, Nurses for ‘Unacceptable Way’ They Have ‘Navigated Pandemic’

‘ANNIVERSARY OF INCORPORATION’ CELEBRATION

School Nurses Were Apparently Blindsided

by Superintendent’s Decision to Reduce Quarantining Period from 10 Days to Five

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Andrew King

PEMBERTON—The “top” or “upper administration” of the Pemberton Township School District is facing immense criticism from numerous school employees who have gone public with their concerns at the past two Pemberton Board of Education meetings to contend that the district’s Coronavirus response is not only lacking collaboration and communication, but is largely disorganized, and that while district administrators have said their decisions ensure the “safety, health and well-being” of both students and staff, their “actions do not match your words.”

Sup er i ntendent Jef frey Havers, i n particular, is being accused of “adding fuel to the fire” over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend when he made an apparently abrupt decision to change the district’s Coronavirus quarantining policy, which reportedly had blindsided the school nurses in the district’s nine schools, with several contending they only found out about it through an email sent by the superintendent during the holiday weekend.

As a result of Haver’s actions, according to both numerous veteran educators and school nurses, “chaos” ensued upon the resumption of school on Tuesday, Jan. 18, with the school nurses “caught off-guard”

Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson (center) cuts the ribbon on Feb. 4 for the municipality’s new town hall and library complex with Councilwoman Donna Symons and Councilman Erik Rebstock (right) joining him in celebrating the occasion.

Medford’s ‘Septaquintaquinquecentennial’ Commemorated with Dedication of New Town Hall, Featuring ‘Modern’ Downstairs Library, Now Home to the Recently-Relocated Pinelands Branch

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—To mark the “momentous occasion” of the 175th anniversary of Medford Township’s incorporation on Feb. 4, the municipality’s brand-new, two-story combination library-municipal building, at 49 Union Street, was officially dedicated at 3 p.m. that day in a “grandopening celebration.”

The municipality’s mayor, Charles “Chuck” Watson, emphasized during the building’s ribbon cutting that the “architectural style” of the facility is “representative of Medford’s rich history,” which he detailed at length

through a proclamation he read aloud, previously adopted by Medford Council on Feb. 1 to recognize the municipality’s “s e p t a q u i nt a q u i n q u e c e nt e n n i a l ,” a s Wat s o n p u t it (s o m e i n s t e a d refer to the 175th anniversary of an event as a terquasquicentennial or demisemiseptcentennial).

“We thank all of you who made this building come to fruition,” said Watson during the Feb. 4 celebration, pointing to past and current members of township council, Township Manager and Project Supervisor Kathy Burger, Burlington County officials, including representatives of the Burlington County Library system,

the Medford Librar y Association, Architect Brooks Garrison, of Garrison A r c h i t e c t s , To w n s h i p E n g i n e e r Christopher Noll, of Environmental Resolutions, Inc., General Contractor Kerry Ogren, from Arthur J. Ogren, Inc., and Construction Manager Robert Notley, from New Road Construction.

“It truly has been a remarkable series of public and private partnerships, and dedicated civic engagement shown by everyone here, united by their love for Medford.

“And this spirit and sense of community will continue to benefit Medford and allow See CELEBRATION/ Page 8

See SCHOOL/ Page 11

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Pemberton Township Schools Increase Out-of-District Placements, Put Principals on School Buses and Hand Down ‘Bus Suspensions’ Plan Follows Accounts of Student Behavioral and Mental Health Crisis with Fights, Assaults, Throwing of Objects, Choking, Biting and Bullying

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The superintendent of the Pemberton Township School District, in response to a purported student behavioral and mental health crisis in the school system, resulting from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, in particular the lengthy schoolpandemic shutdown, has announced his plan to end the crisis, which includes increasing the number of “out-of-district placements,” placing principals and assistant principals on school buses that are “repeatedly having trouble” and issuing “bus suspensions.”

According to the Susan Clark Law Group, LLC, of Freehold, out-of-district placements entail a student being sent to a specialized school or program that is outside of the local school district, such as a private school, charter school, or another public school.

Out-of-district placements often occur, the law group notes, when the relationship with a local school district becomes strained, though it warns that such moves “are not a miracle cure for your child” and “new problems (for the child) may arise.”

Since the start of the school year, the first one since March 2020 (when the pandemic began) that has maintained a regular, uninterrupted schedule and featured all in-person learning, there have been several reports offered at Pemberton Board of Education meetings of unruly behavior occurring during the school day, including fights (with 50 of them already occurring by mid-November, according to recent remarks from Rob Horn, president of the Pemberton Township Education Association[PTEA]), assaults, throwing of

objects that have damaged property, choking, biting and bullying.

Both Pemberton educators and parents have been pleading for action to be taken by Superintendent Jeffrey Havers and the board to bring the “out of control” situation under control. The board, in November, abruptly convened an executive session mid-board meeting, from 6:55 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., reportedly asking Havers to “come up with solutions” to the disciplinary and mental health problems.

Havers, in the beginning of January, acknowledged the pandemic “set us back socially, emotionally and academically” and that the district has taken a step “backwards.”

He added “it is going to take years to recover” and “it is going to take a lot of work to get us out of this.”

“We have, unfortunately, had to increase our out-of-district placements,” he said during the board’s subsequent Jan. 20 workshop meeting. “But please understand that when we have out-of-district placements, while yes, we may feel it is important for a child to get support out-of-district, the goal is to always bring them back and help them become successful.”

Havers maintained that the district does not want to “kick them out permanently.”

“These kids are still our neighbors, and still members of our community,” the superintendent said. “So, our goal is to bring them back and help them become successful.”

It was not said how long a student would have to be out-of-district before they would be eligible to return, in addition to what the eligibility criteria is for a student to be able See SUSPENSIONS/ Page 5

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Pinelands Regional School Board Votes to Terminate Its Sharing of ‘Business Office Services’ with Bass River Board of Education

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—The Pinelands Regional Board of Education has unanimously voted to terminate the “shared services agreement” between the Pinelands Regional School District and Bass River Township Board of Education for “business office services,” with the latter’s vice president, Kevin Foder, asking a question at a Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional board meeting (though he claimed he was asking it as a resident) that indicated the board he helps lead was blindsided by the move.

While Pinelands Regional Superintendent Dr. Melissa McCooley claimed in a Feb. 1 email to this newspaper that the Bass River board president had actually received advance notice of the Pinelands Regional board’s intent, Nick Brown, business administrator for Pinelands Regional, had seemingly already acknowledged on Jan. 24 that wasn’t the case.

And while McCooley provided a reason for the decision in the Feb. 1 email, it made no mention of recent, public skirmishes the Bass River board has had with Brown and his business office team.

The Bass River Township School District became a send/receive, non-operating school district beginning with the 2020-21 school year, and closed its only facility, the Bass River Elementary School, with Bass River children in grades K-6 now attending the Little Egg Harbor Township School District’s two elementary schools.

Since the send/receive relationship started, the Bass River board, still charged with overseeing the education of Bass River students in grades K-6, has relied on the services of the Pinelands Regional district, also based in Little Egg Harbor, which serves Tuckerton Borough, Eagleswood, Little Egg Harbor and Bass River students in grades 7-12. That has meant Brown

is also the business administrator for the Bass River School District.

Those who run the Little Egg Harbor district also operate the Pinelands Regional district through various shared services agreements, including McCooley, Brown and Assistant Business Administrator Jonathan Yates (the latter who is the Bass River district’s assistant business administrator and board secretary).

A review by this newspaper of recent Bass River Board of Education meetings, conducted under the supervision of Brown and Yates, located no mention of a possible termination of the shared services agreement between the Pinelands Regional district and Bass River board, nor was there any recent executive session convened where the subject might have been discussed behind closed doors. “(On the agenda), under ‘Operations,’ 12(a), ‘Shared Services Agreement,’ ‘RESOLVED that the Board of Education approve termination of the shared services agreement with the Bass River Twp. School Board for business office services effective on or about May 3, 2022,’ when did this come about and were the board of education members down there notified of this?” asked Foder during the Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional board meeting, right before that board rendered a decision on the action item.

That question from Foder prompted Brown to respond, “You’re hearing about it tonight – it is on tonight’s agenda.”

A somewhat seemingly befuddled Pinelands Regional Board Member Raymond Bartlett stated (incorrectly) “that’s on the next agenda” because “that hasn’t been discussed yet.”

Brown responded, “No.” This newspaper recently reported that the Bass River district is seeking a minimum bid of $400,000 for its former elementary school See BOARD/ Page 6

Saturday, February 12, 2022

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Southampton Lawyer Upbraids School Board for Opting to Make Unvaxxed Pupils Exposed to COVID Stay Home

Ian Smith’s Entry into 3rd District Congressional Race Reviled

by Campaigns of Democratic Incumbent, GOP Primary Rival

District’s Failure to Implement ‘Test to Stay’ Policy Allowed by State Was Third Time It Has Made Remaining in Class Harder, He Charges

Gym Owner Who Defied Shutdown Order Says He Would Welcome Chance to Debate Andy Kim, Republican Hopeful Robert Healey, Jr.

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—At a time when educators are stressing the importance of getting students back into classroom settings after nearly two years of COVID-19 restrictions and closings that are being blamed for many of them having fallen behind where they should be academically, a Vincentown Village lawyer has taken the Southampton Township School District to task for what he claims is an arbitrary policy of quarantining unvaccinated children who have been exposed to the virus.

Attorney Kit Applegate, two of whose children attend primary schools in the township, has made a point of letting local school officials know that he finds their policy of requiring exposed students who have not gotten a complete course of COVID shots to stay home for five days, rather than be tested and remain in school, a baffling one.

“We kept our schools open during the height of the pandemic, when most others in the state were closed,” Applegate told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a recent phone interview. “Now we have the option of loosening rules to keep more kids in school but are not taking advantage of it when we should be bending over backwards to find any way we can to do that.”

Not only has the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) currently given school districts the discretion to adopt a test to stay (TTS) policy, he pointed out, but under the latest guidelines issued by that agency, the results of a COVID test administered at home can now be used for that purpose as well.

According to a NJDOH interim guidance notice issued Feb. 2, “Schools may use a TTS modified quarantine protocol that allows asymptomatic students who meet the criteria for quarantine and who are exposed to a person with COVID-19 in any school setting where students are supervised by school staff, (indoors, outdoors, or on a school buses) to continue in-person academic activities that are part of the regular school curriculum and provided during school hours.”

While the Feb. 2 guidance notes that “preferably, testing should occur at the school using a rapid antigen test performed by a licensed healthcare provider or trained personnel under a waiver, or at a school district coordinated offsite location that provides rapid testing that is accessible to students,” home-based tests, including self-tests, can be used “alternately” for this purpose.

“They have flexibility that they are not using,” Applegate asserted. “I am not asking the district to create something out of thin air.”

When contacted by this newspaper in regard to his concerns, Southampton Superintendent Asia Michael responded, “We’re not health experts here,” and said she was therefore leaning on the “guidance of those professionals who can help us keep our students and our families safe,” referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the NJDOH, with the Burlington County Health Department acting as the district’s “liaison” with those agencies.

“We are fortunate enough that we communicate with our health department to help us navigate through that,” she said.

See LAWYER/ Page 10

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

BELLMAWR—At the conclusion of a brief, but supportive interview aired on Feb. 3 with Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr Borough, following the formal announcement of his entry in the N.J. 3rd District congressional race as a Republican, Fox News host Tucker Carlson remarked to the controversial candidate, “I’ll bet they’re going to oppose you in a really vigorous way.”

In response, Smith, who the previous day had told the Pine Barrens Tribune about how he planned to turn his well-known opposition to Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s pandemic restrictions into a cornerstone of his campaign, declared, “And I hope that they do.”

It didn’t take long for the vigorous opposition that Smith, a longtime resident of the 3rd District, said he hoped for to materialize from the campaigns of both incumbent two-term Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, and Smith’s potential GOP Primary rival, Robert Healey Jr. While Kim, through a spokesman, initially declined an invitation to comment on Smith’s intent to become a candidate, and Healey also failed to respond to a similar request in time for this newspaper’s deadline last week, both followed up in short order with written denunciations of the fitness buff who has since pleaded guilty to contempt of court for having kept his gym open during Murphy’s lockdown of non-essential businesses and, along with his business partner, been sentenced to a year’s

probation.

In a “news alert” sent out via email shortly after Smith’s declaration, and obtained by this newspaper, the Andy Kim for Congress campaign announced, “Well, here’s today’s breaking news, and it’s not great: Andy has another opponent. You might have heard of him. His name is Ian Smith, the owner of Atilis Gym. He gained notoriety back in 2020 when he reopened his gym in defiance of Governor Murphy’s decision to close gyms to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Then, wedged next to a still photo of the split-screen interview Smith had with Carlson, a popular conservative commentator who has lately served as a political lightning rod for Democrats, was the claim that Smith has “become something of a hero to the far-right MAGA (Make America Great Again) crowd who have put our communities at risk and extended this terrible pandemic.”

“After defying Governor Murphy’s decision, he raised over a half million dollars on GoFundMe for his legal bills,” it noted.

“Another thing you deserve to know: Smith was also sentenced to more than five years in prison in 2007 after he was convicted of second-degree vehicular homicide.”

The email continued, “He drove drunk and caused a crash that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old student.”

Then, after displaying a headline from NJ.com that reads, “NJ gym owner defying shutdown order faces backlash over fatal drunk driving crash,” the campaign’s message goes on to assert that “Smith has the See CAMPAIGNS/ Page 4

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Evesham Resident, 25, Charged With Murder in Stabbing of Man and His Dog During Struggle at Victim’s Apartment EVESHAM—A 25-year-old Evesham a struggle were evident in the apartment, Township resident has been charged in according to an earlier report. the Feb. 5 stabbing death of another man Hollingsworth, who was also charged at the Olympus Apartments on with two counts of possession Baker Boulevard in Evesham, of a weapon for an unlawful according to an announcement purpose, was taken into custody

by Burlington County Prosecutor

by Evesham Township Police at Scott Coffina and Evesham the Emergency Department of Township Acting Chief of Police Virtua Voorhees Hospital, where Walter Miller. he reportedly went for treatment The suspect, Donovan G. of minor injuries sustained in the Hollingsworth, of Crest Road, was alleged altercation between the charged with first-degree murder two men, who reportedly knew after police, responding to a report each other. He was lodged in of a dog attack shortly after 9 a.m., Burlington County Jail pending found the body of Thomas Pierson a detention hearing scheduled to III, 26, in his apartment and that take place in the near future.

Donovan of his dog, a King Corso named Potential charges against the Django, on a stairwell. Both reportedly had suspect related to Django’s death were also said suffered multiple stab wounds, and signs of to be a possibility pending further investigation.

Photo Provided

Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr Borough, who has now officially announced his entry as a Republican into the 3rd Congressional District race.

CAMPAIGNS (Continued from Page 3)

ability to raise a lot of money from his fellow MAGA extremists across the country” and to add, “that’s why we’re counting on you (naming the recipient of the email) to pitch in a few bucks,” asking, “Will you donate right now?”

The fatal accident is something Smith told this newspaper he has been “very open about,” acknowledging he was still impaired when he got behind the wheel after having become inebriated the previous night, pointing out that he has since given lectures at some 20 high schools warning students about the risks of the behavior that resulted in the crash.

“I certainly understand the resentment and the anger and the hostility that some people will hold for me, and I don’t blame anybody for that,” he added. “The only thing that I can do is to try to do as much good as I possibly can moving forward.”

The Healey for Congress campaign, however, went a couple steps further than Kim’s campaign in terms of condemnation, sending out a press release with the headline, “Convicted Murderer & 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist Ian Smith is Unfit and Unelectable.”

The message that followed, attributed to Theresa Valardi, the new campaign manager for the co-chair of the Viking Group, a manufacturer of luxury yachts based in Bass River Township, maintained that “Republicans have a historic opportunity to stop Joe Biden’s and Nancy Pelosi’s radical agenda and win back control of the House this November, but that won’t happen if we nominate unfit and unelectable candidates like Ian Smith.”

“The people of Burlington, Monmouth and Mercer Counties will never elect someone who was convicted of killing an innocent teenager while driving drunk and in possession of marijuana and hypodermic needles,” it continued. “Nor are they going to elect someone who openly embraces fringe conspiracy theories about the 9/11 terrorist attacks being perpetrated by our own government.”

Valardi added that her father was one of the casualties of that latter event when she was six.

Fol low i ng thos e as s er tions was a quote attributed to former Republican state Assemblyman (representing the 8th Legislative District) and Navy SEAL Commander Ryan Peters.

“I served alongside real American heroes who sacrificed everything to avenge the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country,” said Peters through the press release. “So, when I see

Twitter tough guys like Ian Smith attack the character of fellow SEALs and Purple Heart recipients like Dan Crenshaw, while spewing anti-American garbage like 9/11 conspiracy theories, I can’t stay silent.”

Peters, a vocal critic of former Republican President Donald J. Trump while he was in office, was apparently referring to an acerbic debate on social media last August between Smith and Crenshaw over what Smith referred to as President Joe Biden’s “reckless pull-out” from Afghanistan, “sloppy evacuation,” and decision to resettle “30k unvetted refugees” in this country.

The “conspiracy theory” references were apparently in regard to a Tweet from Smith, sent out last Sept. 11, a copy of which was displayed in the Healey campaign email. It reads: “Never forget 9/11. The innocent lives lost. The brave souls who ran towards the towers to help. Our government has never told us the truth about what happened that day. Those who profited from the War on Terror. Never forget.”

The Healey campaign email also claimed that “Smith’s unpatriotic and unhinged conspiracy theories seem to know no bounds” and that “he has gone as far as to attack President Trump over Operation Warp Speed” (his administration’s program to develop fast-track emergency-use vaccines). It then claimed that “in a now deleted tweet, Smith wrote ‘FDT’ after Trump touted the success of Operation Warp Speed,” which it said was short for an obscene epithet aimed at the former president.

Smith, responding to those accusations in a phone interview with this newspaper on Feb. 8, said he would welcome a chance to debate the issues with both candidates and attempted to provide context for the quotes attributed to him by the Healey campaign.

W h i le ack nowledg i ng that he had indeed written the tweet about Trump, and claiming that he then deleted it because of a typographical error, he said his criticism was specifically intended as a response to someone’s retweeting something in regard to the vaccines, which he didn’t think “should be touted as some great achievement when those who are strongly opposed to them are sacrificing their ability to feed their families in order to stand up for their medical freedom.”

But his sharp disagreement with Trump on that particular issue, he said, “doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative of the many things he has done for this country” and was not intended as a “general statement” about the former president, whom he supported.

As for Peters’ allegation that he had attacked the character of a Navy SEAL, Smith contended that “never once have I disrespected any member of the Armed Forces,” and that it was “absolutely ludicrous” to say that he had done so simply because he had gotten into a debate with Crenshaw, an individual with whom he speaks frequently.

“But I would love to debate with them (Kim and Healey),” he asserted. “And if no one wants to sit down for a debate, I would be more than happy to host a town hall, where we discuss issues, and answer questions directly from the audience.

“We can sit here and just try to dig up dirt on each other or we can talk about policy and about what we’re going to do if we’re fortunate enough to have the honor to represent the 3rd District.”

Smith added that he was more than willing to discuss his fatal accident while in college with “anyone who has genuine questions about it,” as “there is nothing I have ever swept under the rug.” But he said he regarded using it as a basis to attack him on a personal level as being “disrespectful to the young man who did lose his life in that very tragic occurrence.”

Saturday, February 12, 2022

SUSPENSIONS

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(Continued from Page 2)

to return.

During the board’s Jan. 27 action meeting, it approved out-of-district placements for five students, sending two of them to Burlington County Alternative High School, two to Burlington County Alternative School and one to Monmouth Regional High School.

A number of “students with disabilities” were also approved for “out-of-district placements” at schools and programs including the Burlington County Special Services School District, Hampton Academy, The Education Academy and Garfield Park Academy.

The out-of-district tuition costs listed on a Jan. 27 Pemberton board meeting agenda ranged from $17,500 to some $40,000.

Havers, in further outlining his plan to deal with the crisis, said the Pemberton district will now be “definitely filing charges for any extreme threats to staff and students.”

Additionally, he said, there will now be “mandatory parent meetings” for any student who receives an “out-of-school suspension.”

But whether a student is suspended from school for a short period of time, or is ultimately sent out-of-district for a longer timeframe, Havers said the “goal” is to work with the parents “to come up with plans to collaboratively work together to help our kids.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that a district school bus driver described an incident earlier this school year in which a bottle was purportedly tossed by a student through the windshield of a school bus with special needs students aboard.

Apparently, that was just one of several incidents involving unruly behavior on the district’s school buses.

“With regards to transportation, we are coordinating with our bus garage to have principals and assistant principals go on buses that are repeatedly having trouble so that we can address those behaviors,” Havers contended. “We have done multiple bus suspensions and they are followed by inperson parent meetings so that administrators can work with the parents and their children to plan for success on the bus.”

The Pemberton Township School District not only oversees Pemberton Township High School, but is responsible for seven elementary and middle schools, in addition to a pre-school. The superintendent said he had “buses delivered to the elementary schools” so that physical education teachers could “take the kids on there” and “work on character

education.” The students, he noted, were reminded of the district’s “expectations” and told be “mindful of their behavior.”

The rest of Havers “plan,” however, besides increasing opportunities for “mindfulness and Zumba,” touched on things that had already been implemented at the start of the school year, before the complaints started racking up, including commencement of a “new program” in which high school seniors mentor freshmen, as well as the establishment of Care Solace, a network the district is now part of that connects students with counseling and mental health supports “outside of the school day.”

Havers added the Pemberton district is now part of Effective School Solutions, which provides additional mental health support based on tiers, in addition to having expanded its Legacy program beginning in September.

It was also mentioned by Havers during the Jan. 20 Pemberton board workshop meeting that he planned to release a video message, in conjunction with the Pemberton Township Police Chief Jay Watters and a police detective, addressing “cyberbullying.” Earlier in January, the superintendent said social media has left him with “extreme concerns” and is posing “a lot of challenges.”

“On social media, often, people say things they wouldn’t say if it was a personal conversation,” contended Havers at the time.

“People often dehumanize others. Things are said that aren’t true. It is an isolation tool.

People can be together at a party, but yet they are not together. A kid could be bullied in the backseat of a car and you wouldn’t know it, because it occurs on their phone. … It (social media) is hurting us.”

But a parent who attended the early January board session and described at the time that her daughter “has been bitten, punched, and choked” and has experienced “non-stop bullying all day, emotional abuse all day, and physical abuse all day,” upon hearing of Havers intent to release the video regarding cyberbullying, declared during the board’s Jan. 27 session, “my daughter wants to know how that is going to help her in the hallways.”

“The kids need structure, in-school suspensions and detentions with mean teachers,” the parent added.

Havers, in response, called the parent’s suggestion that bullying isn’t just limited right now to the cyberspace, “a good point.”

“Cyberbullying is just one type of bullying and we should not have any bullying anywhere,” Havers added. “We do have teams promoting positive student interactions and decision-making. But we are struggling like most of society right now with people not being kind and respectful to each other.”

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PUBLIC NOTICE PROPOSED PLAN RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RECORD OF DECISION SIGNED RESTORATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING PROPOSED PLAN ISSUED FOR LAKEHURST FORMER SUBMARINE BOMBING TARGET (ZZ001) MUNITIONS RESPONSE SITE AT JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST The Department of the Air Force and Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst (JB MDL) invite public comment on the Proposed Plan for the Lakehurst Former Submarine Bombing Target referred to as Munitions Response Site ZZ001. Site ZZ001 was the location of a German U-boat-shaped target that was used by military aircraft from approximately 1933 to 1945 to drop practice explosive bombs. To address hazards associated with potential munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) that may remain at the site, the Air Force evaluated four remedial alternatives for Site ZZ001. Based on that evaluation, the Air Force proposed Land Use Controls (LUCs) with MEC Surface Clearance as the preferred remedy. This alternative would include LUCs such as warning signs and dig permit requirements, as well as an initial MEC surface clearance and recurring surface sweeps. The other three alternatives evaluated were No Action, LUCs, and MEC Surface and Subsurface Clearance with LUCs. A copy of the Proposed Plan is available for review beginning Thursday, 10 February 2022, at the Ocean County Library located at 101 Washington St., Toms River, NJ. A copy of the Proposed Plan can also be viewed at the online Administrative Record file at: https://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil/ and www.envirorestorejbmdl.com (click on the Community Involvement tab).

Proposed Plan Public Meeting The Air Force invites the public to attend a virtual meeting via MS Teams on Thursday, 17 February 2022, 6:00 p.m., to discuss the Proposed Plan. Please email Katrina Harris at kharris@bridgeconsultingcorp. com if you would like to participate for information on connecting by computer or phone.

Public Comments Community input is integral to the remedial alternative selection process. The public is encouraged to review and provide written or verbal comments on the Proposed Plan during the 30-day comment period (12 February to 14 March 2022). Comments must be postmarked by 14 March 2022 and sent to Mr. James Richman, Remediation Program Manager, 787 CES/CEIE 2403 Vandenberg Avenue, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ 08641,emailed to james.richman.1@us.af.mil, or sent by fax to (609) 754-1741. The final remedy will be selected after the public comment period has closed, and all comments have been taken into consideration.

RESTORATION ADVISORY MEETING – PUBLIC INVITED TO ATTEND The RAB meeting will immediately follow the public meeting, starting at approximately 6:45 p.m. and ending at approximately 8:00 p.m.

The RAB meeting provides an update on JB MDL environmental restoration projects. This meeting will also be virtual via MS Teams.

RECORD OF DECISION SIGNED The Department of the Air Force and Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst announce the signing of a Record of Decision for the former Dix Small Arms Range (Site SR002). The Record of Decision documents that no further action is necessary for SR002 to protect public health or welfare or the environment. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection concurred with the selected remedy. Copies of the Record of Decision are available at the Burlington County Library and NJDEP Records Custodian. The document can also be viewed on the Air Force’s Administrative Record website, http://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil/.

Contact the JB MDL Public Affairs Office at (609) 754-2104 for more information.

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(Continued from Page 2) and the two lots it comprises, according to an online auction site, with bid increments set at $3,000. However, that minimum bid is well under the school property’s assessed value of $690,000.

A “bid preview period,” as Brown put it during a Jan. 10 Bass River board meeting, started Jan. 4, with the auction set to begin on Feb. 1. The auction, he noted, will conclude on March 11.

“The only reason I bring this up is because we are in the middle of selling the school, in the middle of getting a budget together and now you are going to do away with the business administration and all, and have a whole new one put in,” observed Foder during the Pinelands Regional Jan. 24 board meeting. “How is that fair to the residents?”

Brown replied to Foder that “if you notice” the termination date of the agreement is “on or about May 3,” which would come after “the proposed sell date of the school” and “after the budget is submitted to the county superintendent.”

“After that work is completed, we are proposing a termination agreement,” Brown added.

However, Brown’s remarks raised some eyebrows because the auction had not yet commenced by the Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional meeting, and also without it having officially closed (let alone open), it is currently unknown whether the Bass River board will actually get any bids on the former school. Additionally, it is not known whether the Bass River board would ultimately approve of any transaction.

Additionally, given that Bass River students currently attend the Little Egg district, not having officials from the latter district involved in the conducting of the Bass River board meetings has the potential to result in communication challenges.

The Pinelands Regional Board voted 9-0 on Jan. 24 to approve the termination of the shared services agreement, however, with Board Member Patty Martin, the lone one representing Bass River on the Pinelands Regional board, among those voting in the affirmative.

The reason for the termination of the shared services agreement was not disclosed during the Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional board meeting.

But during that same session, as previously reported by this newspaper, McCooley responded to an online petition calling for the termination of her shared-services contract between the Little Egg and Pinelands Regional schools, calling the many charges in it “outrageous, slanderous and false.”

Recently, but preceding the petition, green and white signs with a message sandwiched in the middle, S.O.S., “Save Our Schools,” have been placed throughout the Little Egg and Pinelands Regional areas.

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Ba s s R iver Boa rd Me mb er C a rol Bitzberger, prior to the Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional decision, had pressed Brown on two separate occasions about the meaning of the signs and who might be behind them.

“Unfortunately, the board is not aware of who made the signs or what they are for,” said Brown during the Bass River board’s Jan. 10 meeting. “I would respectfully … to my knowledge they have nothing to do with Bass River … but I would have to defer that question to whoever made the signs.”

Bitzberger pointed out “there is at least one sign in Bass River” and maintained, “I just want to really know what parents are complaining about.”

“Nobody has shown up at a board meeting to express those complaints and that is really the forum for members of the public,” Brown responded. “If they have a legitimate complaint, or question for the board, we encourage you to express those at a board meeting, not on Facebook. It is certainly everyone’s right to put out signs.”

In reply, Bitzberger declared, “even though I don’t have any children in the school system, as a resident, I am concerned about what our children are being taught.”

“So, the S.O.S. thing really caught my eye, and so, I really wanted to find out what is going on and what people have complaints about,” added Bitzberger, who asked if she could legally attend future Little Egg Harbor School Board meetings, to which Brown encouraged her to attend them to find out information.

That statement from Bitzberger prompted Brow n to reiterate “nobody brought concerns to the board of education meeting (in Little Egg Harbor).”

“And that is the extent that I am familiar,” Brown added.

Additionally, Foder, during the Bass River board’s Jan. 10 meeting, challenged the Pinelands Regional business office officials over a lack of detail about who said what in recent draft meeting minutes, as well as his having to vote to approve bills he had not yet had a chance to review.

Due to a vacancy on the five-seat Bass River board, three affirmative votes are currently needed to pass any Bass River board action items, but Foder had abstained on approving the bills Jan. 10, in addition to a newcomer on the board, Tom “Tommy” Williams, who resigned from the Pinelands Regional board last year due to contracting COVID-19.

An attorney for the board, Paul Kalac, after Foder abstained, recommended that the Bass River board vice president instead “take a few minutes” to review them “and reconsider your abstention” to avoid a delay in passage of the bills because it is “all BA stuff that needs to be done in order for the district to run operationally.” (Williams abstention was seemingly excused, however, because he had not been a member in December 2021).

“I don’t have a problem with that, but unfortunately, I was away on vacation and just got back, and I have been very tied up and I am

not going to rush through bills where we have found some mistakes and questions in the past,” Foder declared. “Just to quickly read over it and pay something, it could cost taxpayers money again and that is how we got into the situation we are in now with all these bonds and grants we have to pay back. So, I am not going to be forced to be rushed to pay something! Sorry!”

(This newspaper previously reported that the Bass River School District is currently about $400,000 in debt, but previously ran a debt of as much as $800,000. It has since been paid down through lease payments. Bass River Township Commissioner Louis Bourguignon pointed out in January that if the former elementary school sells for “more than” $400,000, it could potentially “cover that” debt.)

Brown responded to Foder on the evening of Jan. 10 by saying the board vice president had the “same amount of time” that the other Bass River board members had to review the bills “and board members are reminded to stay on top of this stuff because we are trying to run an operation.”

“We do not meet regularly, and this could postpone the payment of bills, including utilities and other essential services for the district for an additional 45 days, and that is generally not the way we like to do business,” Brown asserted. “I want it to be noted this is not a failure of the business office in providing these to the board for their consideration in a timely manner.”

Foder, in response, pointed out “you folks (the business administration) are paid” whereas the board members “are volunteers” who “do this on our own time.”

“I was away on vacation and I was not going to take time away from my vacation to conduct this business while I had other things to do,” Foder maintained. “I am not going to rush and read over these – like I normally do. And every meeting, as you know, I have questions on the bills. So, I am not going to sit here and say ‘yes’ to something that could wind up costing us more money than it should. I have every right to abstain and I am abstaining!”

Brown, in continuing to exchange words with Foder, said nobody is asking him to “read something he is not comfortable reading,” but that “I am asking the record reflect the same time to review and approve these documents was given to you as every other member.” The business administrator, however, acknowledged it was Foder’s “right” to abstain.

Brown then moved to ask for a motion to table the bills, but Kovac cut him off, pointing out that the next scheduled Bass River board meeting might not be until March (there is now reportedly one scheduled for Feb. 22), “or you’re talking another six weeks before the bills are paid.”

“Does that jeopardize the district in any way?” Kovac asked.

Yates pointed out there is a “lease payment in this batch of bills here” and that “without an affirmative vote, we are unable to cut these checks and make a lease payment.” Brown noted that any late payments could impact the

Saturday, February 12, 2022 Bass River district’s credit and bond ratings and also impact the Bass River district’s ability to “borrow in the future.” Kovac added “it could also be an auditing concern.”

“There is a myriad of reasons why we are asking people to review these in a timely manner,” Brown declared. “I think we covered them all.”

But Foder countered that “as far as borrowing in the future, we don’t have anything to borrow for anymore” because “we don’t have a school anymore.”

Ultimately, Foder was convinced to quickly review the bills and vote to approve them, with the understanding that the board could later vote to reverse a payment should a mistake or error be found.

But despite those recent skirmishes with Pinelands/Little Egg officials (and McCooley’s several past, public disputes with Williams covered by this newspaper previously, in-depth), McCooley emailed this newspaper on Feb. 1 that the decision to cut ties with the Bass River board was because “the school building is up for sale, the budget will be done, and the shared service is no longer going to be provided.”

“Mr. Brown and Mr. Yates have a lot on their plate at this point and it has become a bit overwhelming,” she added.

The superintendent then claimed that “Mr. Brown did speak to the Bass River Board President (Bonnie Adams) prior to placing this (termination agreement) on the Pinelands agenda.”

Adams, following several requests for comment on this story, replied that she was contending with a death in the family, and offered no further response.

As for McCooley’s past, public disputes with Williams, when she was asked point blank by this newspaper if that had any bearing on the Pinelands Regional board’s decision to terminate the shared services agreement with the Bass River board, since Williams had just been sworn-in to the Bass River board two weeks prior to the termination appearing for a vote, she responded, “Absolutely not.”

However, McCooley added, “On a side note, I was surprised that the data breach that occurred when Mr. Williams was board president (for Pinelands Regional) was never pursued by you.”

When asked by this newspaper what she meant by that remark, McCooley replied via email, “At a recent (Pinelands) board meeting it was discussed that a ‘former board member,’ while still on the board, was in the hospital and gave his login credentials to his wife.

Board business was being done by a spouse at the local library and from her home. She had full access to all of our secure information such as student records, contracts, personnel, and my annual evaluation.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune actually did two in-depth stories about the allegations made against Williams.

This newspaper reported that the Pinelands See BOARD/ Page 7

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Pinelands Regional School District Business Administrator Nick Brown, who also provides business administrator services to the Bass River and Little Egg Harbor school districts.

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(Continued from Page 6) Regional board last year had even proposed a “confidentiality agreement” that its members would have to sign, formulated in response to a “purported ethics violation” referenced along with “chatter on social media,” which a Tribune reporter subsequently discovered had involved a police complaint reportedly filed by McCooley over a suspected breach of a board member’s official email account.

The email account at issue appeared to belong to Williams, a retired Little Egg Harbor Township police lieutenant who resigned from the Pinelands Regional board at the beginning of June 2021 after being hospitalized for a COVID-19 infection that resulted in a lung transplant at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital.

Another ex-president of the Pinelands Regional

board, Susan Ernst, revealed to a private Facebook group that she had been questioned in the investigation of the complaint, which ultimately determined “no criminal activity” had occurred and that “the activity reported as suspicious wasn’t actually suspicious,” according to Lt. Troy Bezak, a spokesman for the Little Egg Harbor Police Department.

An official report on that investigation, dated Aug. 12, 2021, and received by this newspaper in response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, categorizes the “incident nature” as “FRAUD,” with both Ernst and Williams, as well as the Pinelands Board and “offices” named as “involvements.”

Under “law incident circumstances” is written “fraud-related call,” further described as “a matter relating to suspicious access of a school board member’s email account and sensitive government documents downloaded,” the disposition of which is listed as a “closed case.”

When provided with this newspaper’s coverage of the incident, McCooley responded,

“If I missed the article, I apologize.”

The superintendent was also asked by this newspaper via email on Feb. 1 about a report that she has only attended one Bass River board meeting since the send/receive relationship began.

“I have only spoken at one Bass River Board meeting,” McCooley replied. “Mrs. Adams attempted to set up another one, however, there was no parent interest from what I was told. We have always been available to the Bass River Board for questions and to provide data. Both the Bass River staff and students are thriving in Little Egg Harbor!”

She added she would be present at a Bass River board meeting “if needed.”

When the superintendent was asked by this newspaper if she was concerned the termination would impact the open line of communication or send/receive relationship with Bass River, she replied, “If they (the Bass River board) need to see how their students are doing, I am always available,” before adding, “I am not certain Mr. Foder would welcome me since he wants me to resign.”

That latter comment references how the Pinelands Regional Jan. 24 meeting ended following both the board’s vote to terminate the shared services agreement with the Bass River board and McCooley’s defense against the petition calling for her removal.

“My children used to come to this school, and they were proud to say (so) at the end of the school year,” said Foder at the conclusion of the Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional meeting. “When you say you’re looking out for the best interest of these children, I think you’re hurting these students more than helping them.”

Then, citing “the stuff in the papers, the words around town, the signs and things like that,” Foder said he believed he was speaking for some of those present in telling McCooley he thought “the best thing you could do is resign your position.”

Foder ultimately declined to comment on this story.

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Saturday, February 12, 2022

Photo By Andrew King

Pictured from left to right at Medford’s 175th anniversary celebration and two-story combination library-municipal building dedication on Feb. 4 are Burlington County Solicitor Ashley Buono, Burlington County Library Commission Chairman Jonathan Chebra, Burlington County Library System Director Ranjna Das, Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson, Councilwoman Donna Symons, Councilman Erik Rebstock and Burlington County Administrator Eve Cullinan.

CELEBRATION (Continued from Page 1)

it to prosper for the next 175 years.”

Medford, as Watson pointed out, seceded from Evesham Township on Feb. 4, 1847, when “the township that today is known as Medford was incorporated by the State of New Jersey into an official township.”

Following that action of the state Legislature, the “first township meeting,” according to historical records Medford has in its possession, was held on March 9, 1847, at the “crossroads,” or where today’s County Route 541 and Church Road intersect.

But the factors and key players that played a role in Medford’s beginning have been traced as far back as 1670, according to Watson.

That is when William Penn and others, acting for Edward Billynge, sold 900 acres of land – what is now part of Medford Township – to Samuel Coles. Other large landowners in the area during that time were Simon Bozorth, John Goslin, John Haines and William Hewlings.

According to the mayor, “during the next few years,” the “Braddocks, Pricketts, Wilkins, Strattons and Branins” were “among many who came to the area.”

John Goslin, the mayor said, started a sawmill at what is known today as the intersection of Hartford and Taunton roads, with the sawmill later purchased by David Oliphant, and “Joseph Hewlings’ Mill” was later known as “Christopher’s Mill,” with

portions remaining today at a site located at Tuckerton and Christopher’s Mill roads.

By 1767, Watson noted, Medford, then known as “Upper Evesham,” began to resemble a “village” with a “schoolhouse that was also used as the Friends Meeting.”

The “Shamong Trail,” known today as Stokes Road, had expanded from the “footpath that the Indians used” into a “narrow, sandy, soggy and sometimes impassable road between Burlington and the busy seaport of Clamtown (the latter known today as Tuckerton).”

What is referred to as “Medford Village,” or today’s Medford downtown business distr ict where the new combi nation municipal-library building has opened, “continued to develop through the 1780’s largely due to the founding of the Etna and Taunton Furnaces by Charles Read,” Watson pointed out.

The Taunton furnace, he said, “supplied shot and shell to the Continental armies,” and Adonijah Peacock “manufactured gunpowder for Washington’s armies at his farm” on what is now Branin Road.

In January 1777, Peacock was killed in an explosion, and is buried in the “Peacock graveyard” on Chairville Road.

But after “the Revolution and into the 1800’s,” noted Watson, “Upper Evesham” had struggled as a “little village” with only “a few houses strung along Main Street.”

At that time, the mayor noted, Mark Reeve “called a town meeting” to order and proposed “the name Medford after a visit to Medford, Massachusetts.”

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The exterior of Medford Town Hall on its official dedication day Feb. 4, with the municipality’s mayor, Charles “Chuck” Watson, emphasizing during the building’s ribbon cutting that the “architectural style” of the facility is “representative of Medford’s rich history.”

“And in 1820, when the Post Office opened, the town was officially called ‘Medford of Upper Evesham,’” Watson recounted.

Medford then began to “set apart from Evesham,” experiencing “growth beginning with the coming of the railroad in 1869, including the Star Glass Works factory on Mill Street and numerous sawmills and grist mills running full tilt.”

“With an easy way of getting their products to Philadelphia and New York, Medford was in its ‘heyday,’” Watson noted.

In 1889, the mayor noted, the “Camden & Atlantic Railroad came to town” connecting Camden and Medford along “a route now occupied by Route 70,” with the current “medical office” at 69 North Main Street “originally built as the passenger station for this line.”

Of note, Watson said, is that the new town hall and library complex, consisting of 3.27 acres, “also hosts the Jonathan Haines House that you may have noticed on the way in, which is one of the oldest houses in Medford (according to online historical records and a historical sign in front of the dwelling, it is the first one that was ever built in Medford Village).” That home, constructed in 1760, “was actually recently subdivided off this property,” Watson added, and “they are looking for a good use for that – hopefully to remain a house, or for township use.”

Garrison previously noted that his firm “used the vernacular aesthetic of the existing Haines House” for the new municipal building and that the exterior has a “dual

chimney” to indicate the main entrance and front door of town hall, in keeping with the Haines House appearance.

Burger, in a press release issued prior to the ceremony, pointed out that Medford Town Hall is “an ode to the Flemish bond brick façade of the Haines House” and that “the architecture was replicated for the exterior design of the new municipal building.” She pointed out that Medford officially sub-divided the lot in 2021 and that “the council has not announced future plans for this dwelling.”

“My fellow councilmembers and I thought it appropriate to dedicate our new town hall on this momentous occasion,” said Watson on Feb. 4, exactly 175 years later from the Feb. 4, 1847 incorporation of the municipality. “While this building is new, you can see that we took great measures to ensure that the building architecture was designed to match the architectural style prevalent in the historic district, where Medford originated, and so that this building is representative of Medford’s rich history. Today’s ceremony has joined together the Medford of yesteryear and the Medford of today, 175 years later.”

Watson pointed out that it was on March 9, 2020 when officials broke ground on the over 20,000 square-foot combination library-municipal building, which sits back roughly 300 feet off Union Street.

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8th District Assemblyman Brandon Umba (left) provides Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson with a proclamation recognizing Medford’s 175th anniversary of incorporation.

CELEBRATION (Continued from Page 8)

offices, previously opened to the public for the first time at 8:30 a.m. on May 17, 2021.

Watson noted last week that the municipal offices were relocated “a short distance” from a 17 N. Main Street building that “previously housed the municipal offices.”

Burlington County Library System’s Pinelands Branch, which now occupies the first floor of “Medford Town Hall,” also has been relocated from a “short distance away” and opened in its new Union Street home on Dec. 13, 2021.

“Maintaining a library in Medford was of paramount importance to myself and Medford council, and we are grateful to the county and library associations for their continuing support and partnerships,”

declared Watson on Feb. 4.

According to a press release issued by Burlington County prior to the Feb. 4 celebration, the new library replaces the “nearly 50-year-old library facility” at 39 Allen Street, which closed on Dec. 7 of last year.

Watson noted that on Feb. 14, the Pinelands Branch will be celebrating its 50th anniversary of existence.

“The location and facilities may be new, but when visitors walk through the doors, they can expect to find the same war m, inviting ambiance and strong sense of community that has long been associated with our Pinelands location,” said Burlington County Library System Director Ranjna Das through the press release.

The Pinelands library location on Allen Street had first opened in 1972 and was the second branch library in the Burlington County Library System, joining the system’s

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The “warm, inviting ambiance and strong sense of community” in the new home of the Pinelands Branch Library. main library and the Cinnaminson location.

That Pinelands facility was later expanded in 1984 to include a separate children’s space.

The new library in Medford Town Hall features “several new-modern library amenities,” according to Das, including a dedicated tech center featuring both Mac and PC computers, a study room, event space, improved customer parking, a larger children’s department, new furnishings and technology, a café, and meeting and workspace in a shared foyer.

The new library facility’s furnishing and technology was purchased with the assistance of a $50,000 donation from the Medford Library Association to the Burlington County Library System Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to raise funds to support the library system and its mission.

“The Burlington County Library System was New Jersey’s first county library system

and it continues to expand services and amenities to meet our residents’ needs,” said Burlington County Commissioner Dan O’Connell, who is the commissioners’ liaison to the library system. “The new Pinelands Library is the culmination of a lot of planning and hard work, and I want to thank everyone who participated. It will be a great resource for the greater Medford area and the surrounding Pinelands region.”

Watson, who maintained that it was the “dedication to fiscal responsibility” by the current council and prior ones consisting of former members Bradley Denn, Jeffrey Beanstock, Chris Bouni and Randy Pace, that “made this dream become a reality,” upon cutting the ribbon for the new town hall and library complex with Councilman Erik Rebstock and Councilwoman Donna Symons, declared, “Welcome to our new building!”

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LAWYER

(Continued from Page 3) But that reliance on the county health department, which is headed by County Health Commissioner Herb Conaway, a Democratic state assemblyman representing the 7th Legislative District and an M.D., is one of the things that Applegate has been critical of, asking Michael in a letter handdelivered to her office on Jan. 12, “Why is the district awaiting the recommendation of a county political appointee?”

Applegate said that when he raised the quarantine issue at a recent board of education meeting, the members “looked at me like they had never heard of this before,” then proceeded to vote, 8-1, to continue with the stricter requirement (with the only dissenting vote coming from Board Member Melissa Walker). That decision, the attorney said, was what prompted him to put a red and white sign on the side of his law office urging residents to “keep our kids in school” and to vote out the current board, and to

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

A roadside sign declaring, “Keep Our Kids in School,” in Southampton Township.

place other signs around town bearing the first part of that message.

(The school district has since seemingly responded to Applegate’s sign by posting on its letter board, “We do keep our kids in school.”)

One aspect of the district’s current policy that Applegate said he finds particularly perplexing is why children who haven’t received a full round of COVID shots are being singled out for quarantine when “there is evidence that people who are vaccinated and boosted can be infected as well.”

Asked if she could answer that, Michael said she did not feel comfortable attempting to do so “because I’m not a medical professional” and that Applegate “would have to take that up with the county health department,” adding that she was in favor of “erring on the side of caution.”

But she maintained that “the county and state are in sync with each other and their guidance are one and the same” on the issue of protecting students from being infected by the Coronavirus.

Michael also indicated she concurred with Applegate on the importance of keeping students in school as much as possible, “because when you miss days, you’re missing vital pieces of education.”

“We’re always looking to explore new possibilities so that we can do what’s best for the kids,” she declared.

An attempt by this newspaper to get answers from the county health department was referred to David Levinsky, the official spokesman for Burlington County, who defined the department’s role as being one “to assist districts in answering questions about the guidance the state hands down.”

“If a superintendent has a question, our health department is there to answer it,” said Levinsky, noting that because things have changed over time, such guidance is partly based on the conditions of the virus and how prevalent it is in regard to community spread.

“But we’re not telling districts anything that is not in the (state) guidance,” he maintained. “It is there for the school districts to protect their students, staff and school-based personnel.”

Messages also left at Conaway’s legislative office were unanswered by this newspaper’s press time.

In his letter to Michael, Applegate also pointed out that the decision to make unvaccinated children who had been exposed to COVID stay home instead of giving them the option of being tested wasn’t the first instance in which the Southampton district has chosen to make it more difficult for such pupils to remain in the classroom.

“Several weeks ago, I learned the district was following, not a requirement, but a recommendation of the NJDOH that said the length of quarantine/isolation for a student exposed to COVID should be determined, not on the quality or length of the student’s exposure and not on whether that student tests positive or negative for COVID, but instead on whether the color of Burlington County on a map was red instead of orange.

“That a color on a map determined the length of a Southampton student’s quarantine/isolation made (and continues to make) absolutely no sense,” he contended.

“I understand that recommendation has since been superseded, but again, it was a recommendation, not a requirement. The district was free to ignore the nonsensical recommendation, but chose not to. And as a consequence, students, including my own children, were kept out of the classroom for longer than necessary.”

He then stated in the letter that he next received a notification via email that the district intended to continue with a 10-day “conventional isolation policy” while the Burlington County Department of Health reviewed a recommendation that was being implemented in other districts that it be shortened to five (which has since been done).

“When I see discretion being used to keep kids out of school and risk harming their education, and in turn their future, it annoys me to no end,” Applegate told Michael in that missive. “I am trying to raise free and independent thinkers. And that means when you encounter something in life that is stupid, makes no sense, and causes unnecessary harm, you step up and say something.”

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Pemberton teacher Wil Dirkin contends the Pemberton district’s educational environment is now “the most stressful it has ever been” and that the current circumstances are doing a disservice to students.

SCHOOL

(Continued from Page 1) and “unprepared for how to address this significant shift in COVID protocol.”

Havers, who has been at the helm since last February, and has presided over multiple “crises” which are reportedly continuing unabated, after being publicly confronted by school staff during both the Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 board meetings, apologized for the execution of the decision he made, contending that it was a “mistake” and an

“oversight.” The superintendent, however, defended the merits of the “heavy decision” he made, contending it was one that he “did not take lightly.”

And in responding to the pushback that occurred during the Jan. 27 board meeting, Havers declared, all while pointing to the nurses in attendance, “There are certain things that maybe I am not aware of, that you do, to be quite honest.”

Just pr ior to that remark, teacher Jennifer Soto had called on both the “upper administration” and board members to “roll up their sleeves” and “sub” in the classroom so that the district cannot only finally fill some of the ongoing “coverage gaps” due to staffing shortages, but get a better handle on what is actually occurring in the hallways and classrooms of the district’s schools.

“I guess it is easy to make these calls when you aren’t in the trenches,” declared Soto in slamming the administration. “… I find it interesting that people who never actually taught in our schools during a pandemic are making decisions about how this should be done, but yet ignore input from those of us who have been doing this for two years now.”

Soto, who would later cause Havers to point out he was a teacher for 13 years, maintained district staff have become “exhausted” and that the situation is “untenable.”

“Instead of sitting in offices, you need to start going into the classrooms and doing coverages for teachers who get sick!” Soto asserted.

Rob Horn, president of the Pemberton Township Education Association (PTEA), detailed during the board’s Jan. 20 workshop session that Havers, during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend (one that is very solemnly observed in Pemberton given its significant African American population), reduced the required quarantining for those exposed to the Coronavirus from 10 days

to five.

“Speaking of the nurses, who are our healthcare professionals in the trenches, the way these quarantine changes were announced, on a Sunday, on a holiday weekend, the nurses were caught off-guard and were unprepared for how to address this significant shift in COVID protocol,” said Horn as he read from a prepared statement, which he said received unanimous approval from the Representative Council of the PTEA. “They were not advised or consulted about the change. There was no viable plan of action in place Tuesday morning to handle the workload that would accompany this change.

“The nurses have reported to me that Tuesday was chaotic across the district as they had to scramble with minimum guidance to change current quarantines, spending the day dealing with the necessary paperwork, phone calls, and logistical adjustments, having to ignore their normal healthcare responsibilities. Once again, we are taking our dedicated nurses completely for granted, and putting the safety and healthcare of our students in jeopardy, in the process. This is an unacceptable way to navigate an ongoing pandemic.”

Nurse Jennifer Car uso, of Marcus Newcomb Middle School, described on Jan. 27 that the district’s nurses “walked into mayhem” on Jan. 18 and that what occurred “showed an outstanding lack of respect” for them.

“We looked like fools trying to scramble,” declared Caruso, as she looked straight at Havers.

Caruso, in elaborating on that remark, explained that many students who were exposed to COVID had already been assigned a date that they could return to school, based on the prior 10-day protocol that had been in place, but that school nurses found themselves scrambling to notify them

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 11

of the “changed dates.”

“As your healthcare professionals, we should have input, and it seems like decisions made from the top trickle down to the rest of us,” Caruso added.

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that the school nurses in the beginning of the school year described unsustainable circumstances in which they had to perform contact tracing, in addition to their regular healthcare responsibilities. Several school nurses had described that they were fearful mistakes would be made in administering medications, etc., because of how overwhelmed that they were, and therefore their medical licenses were on the line.

Since then, Havers and the board agreed to hire contact tracers, which Caruso thanked them for doing on Jan. 27, but maintained “it still doesn’t take away the whole COVID burden that is causing problems” and there are “still a lot of problems with communication.”

Caruso detailed that school nurses are still “having difficulties meeting their regular job description,” despite the contract tracers performing contact tracing, because the school nurses are the ones who handle “household contacts and traces” during the school day.

In further elaborating on that point, Caruso explained that when a child becomes symptomatic for COVID during the school day, the nurses then have to “search” for any siblings across the district’s nine schools and also pull them out of class, for fear of possible exposure, and then screen them, call their parents and document what took place.

“It is a ‘search and find mission’ on daily basis that takes an extreme amount of time away from the job,” Caruso contended.

Adding to the burden, she said, is that “we still have to deal with symptomatic students and even teachers,” who have to See SCHOOL/ Page 14

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(Continued from Page 11) be immediately put into quarantine, “in an isolation room.” That room, she noted, must be watched when it is occupied.

Between having to find siblings who live in the same household, tending to those who fall ill and having to call parents to pick up their children, “it takes a long time.”

“I want you to know it is not just they go ‘in quarantine,’” said Caruso in pointing to the complexities of the process. “I feel like there is a huge breakdown of communication districtwide. We were emailed over the weekend about the change and had no time to prepare paperwork for nurses to distribute, or to explain this to parents.”

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Another school nurse, according to Horn, put it more bluntly, purportedly saying, “’I

am trying to stay afloat on a sinking ship’” all while, “’I have aged 5 years in three weeks.’” “‘Th is has been the hardest, most challenging time in my career,’” that second anonymous nurse purportedly stated. “‘This past Tuesday was an absolute disaster. All the nurses came in with no guidance. We were flying by the seat of our pants and didn’t have a meeting until 10 a.m. We were never consulted or even told this was going to happen over a holiday break. Our phones never stopped ringing all day. I was texting parents the updated return dates well into the night. This was so unprofessional on so many levels. This just validated for me that we are all just a number. If I died tomorrow, someone would be in my seat the next day.

So much for a ‘team’ approach. The nurses are all out on our own island at this point, doing the best we can. We are at our tipping

point and our mental and physical health is being affected.’”

And such sentiments were not just expressed by school nurses and limited to the topic of change in quarantining protocol.

Wil Dirkin, a 20-year district teacher (who also happens to be the president of a board of education in a neighboring municipality), pointed out that it is “very rare that I feel compelled to address the board” with it being some 12 years since he last did so, but that to “not to speak at this point would do a disservice” as he “feels things fall on deaf ears regularly” now in the district.

“People come to address the board and there isn’t any change that we see,” he pointed out.

There have been numerous reports and accounts that the district’s multiple crises See SCHOOL/ Page 15

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(Continued from Page 14) that began in earnest, in September, are continuing with many students reportedly falling behind in their courses and exhibiting severe mental health and behavioral problems (from having an irregular class schedule due to the pandemic and spending many months out of school completely due to a pandemic shutdown), all as the district suffers from a shortage of bus drivers and staff (both from the pandemic and budget reductions), while continuing to face a funding shortfall, brought on by continuous state aid cuts that are expected to continue into the 2024-25 school year (necessitating the need for budget reductions).

Dirkin, who noted that he “used to love coming to work” and “loves my kids (that he teaches),” maintained that the district’s educational environment is now “the most stressful it has ever been.” When he first started working for the district, he noted, it followed a “model based on community” in which “if at least I didn’t have a say, I knew what was happening.”

“We are not there anymore,” Dirkin declared. “We are miles from there – miles from there in pandemic.”

In expanding on that point, Dirkin described that he “isn’t even given the courtesy of being told that a student in my classroom tested positive” for the Coronavirus, which has “greatly impacted my private life” because he has no choice to but to “assume I am a close contact” because “we are never told what is going on,” prompting him to reduce in-person contact with his elderly parents and in-laws.

He noted he comes in regular contact with around 80 people daily.

“I have sat in my classroom on multiple occasions this year and literally watched children melt in front of me,” Dirkin asserted. “They get pulled from my room, and they are gone. I have no idea what happened to them.”

He maintained he only learns much later, and from others, that the kids pulled from his classroom were removed because they have COVID. “And that is just one aspect of this,” pointed out Dirkin, noting that the air purifier placed in his classroom has not had its filter replaced, the district has stopped conducting temperature scans, and teachers are now covering other classes in the wake of heavy absences and staff shortages, causing them to lose their prep time.

W h i le “we fe el over worked, u nderappre c iate d, u n i n for me d, and unincluded in this decision-making process at every level,” noted Dirkin, he also feels like “we are doing them (the students) a disservice.”

A teacher at Pemberton Tow nsh ip High School, in assailing the district administration on Jan. 27, pointed out that “over the last two years I have read your words that state, ‘We are here with you; we appreciate you; we care for your safety, health and well-being,’ but your actions do not match your words.”

“On Jan. 5, during my second period class, I received a phone call from your office Mr. Havers, letting me know I was exposed to COVID, and that I was a direct contact,” explained the high school history teacher.

“The woman asked me if I was vaccinated, and I said ‘yes.’ She asked me if I had a booster, and I said ‘yes.’ She asked me if I had any symptoms, and I said ‘no.’ She then stated I ‘did not have to quarantine.’ “… By the next evening, I started to experience symptoms. I was able to locate a home test and it came back positive. The next morning, I had a PCR test and that too came back positive. I did what was asked of me – I came to school and have taught inperson since the first day we had kids in this

building, and I was vaccinated, boosted and wore my mask. Your actions? You docked me five sick days to quarantine from a disease I most likely caught while doing my job.”

The teacher of nearly two-decades at the high school, and who also taught for 13 years at the district’s Helen Fort Middle School, pointed out that “even though I was out on sick time,” the district administrators and board “better believe I, every day, posted lessons on Google Classroom.”

“If you think a teacher can unexpectedly take five days off without posting lessons, corresponding with students and parents, or grading papers, then you have no idea what we do as educators!” declared the teacher, who also took a swipe at the recently implemented, controversial policy that prevents pupils from being assigned a grade lower than a 55, even if they cheat, plagiarize, don’t turn in their assignments or skip class, and in doing so, maintained, “There are many questionable practices this district does without the state’s consent or recommendations – the biggest offender: ‘absenteeism.’”

That teacher added she “wants to get my sick days back,” in addition to having a “fair and just contract,” one that another teacher pointed out has been two-years in the making, but thus far has failed to materialize.

M a ny a l s o t o o k i s s u e w i t h t h e superintendent’s quarantining decision itself, with one excerpt from the PTEA’s st atement read by Hor n on Jan. 20 contending “the district’s new quarantine rules are not following all the New Jersey Department of Health’s recommendations for pre-K through 12th grade, and this is unnecessarily putting our students and staff at increased risk of infection.”

“While I understand that Mr. Havers’s priority is to keep the schools open at all costs, including picking and choosing which health department guidelines to follow and which to ignore, we must consider what the costs of these policies are for our staff members, many of whom have been brought to the depths of despair because of the unmitigated stress, impossible workload, and chaotic work environment,” Horn declared.

Serving as the capstone to the blistering sentiments expressed by district staff was the last teacher to speak over the course of the last two board meetings, one who works at the district’s Pemberton Early Childhood Education Center, who declared, “We are not widgets, not property, not cogs in a wheel” but rather, “We are human beings with families!”

Havers, at the conclusion of the Jan. 20 board session, after hearing the first round of complaints, noted that the school district that his daughter attends changed its COVID quarantine period from 10 to five days several weeks before he made the same call for Pemberton Schools. He explained that the reason for his delaying such a decision for Pemberton was that, at first, “I didn’t feel comfortable with that.”

“I felt like we are already moving in a direction away from the guidelines, so I wanted to do it with caution and look at the data,” the superintendent said. “I needed to sleep one more night on it.”

Havers then “apologized” for “if we didn’t get it right in terms of communication.” He contended that the reason he did not call the school nurses over the holiday weekend was because he was “afraid” they would come to the microphone at a subsequent board meeting and complain that they were called during a holiday.

“Could we have implemented that better with nurses, I am sure that we could of,” Havers acknowledged. “It is not that we don’t care about our nurses, in fact many nurses in other districts do contact tracing.

Our nurses now do not. They are not calling parents, we have contact tracers to do that now.”

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

Pemberton Township School District Superintendent Jeffrey Havers.

Those writing “anonymous letters,” Havers contended, should take their concerns “up the chain-of-command” at their respective schools.

“In ter ms of collaboration, I am a big believer in collaboration,” Havers maintained. “The bottom-line is someone has to make a final decision and there are some things where I am going to look at the data and make a decision. I am not going to have a committee, and disrespect it, because if I am confident with my decision, that is it. I am not going to waste people’s time with a committee. When declaring a snow day, it is a similar process that we use (for determining) COVID protocols.”

However, in the wake of the second round of complaints on Jan. 27, Havers, in noting the “lack of communication was discussed at the last meeting,” appeared to move from that initial position somewhat, declaring what happened was “not out of a lack of respect,” but rather was “more of a mistake, an oversight.”

In addressing the concerns that the district was not following the guidance for quarantining, Havers acknowledged, “Yes, it is true we are not following the exact guidance, but most schools in the county are not.”

“Whether that is right or wrong, that is a matter of opinion,” he added. “It was a direction I felt we needed to go in. It is a decision I don’t take lightly.”

Havers, in citing examples where the distr ict has “not been follow ing the guidance” since the start of the school year, pointed out that one recommendation says that unvaccinated students or staff cannot participate in extracurricular activities, while another says such students should be tested twice a week.

“We don’t have the availability to test,” he maintained. “Any teacher not boosted (and exposed) has to be out for five days. So, we wouldn’t have any extracurricular activities (if that guidance is followed).”

Another example, he said, requires mandatory quarantining for those who travel out of state, which if followed, he indicated, would have forced district schools to close due to the likelihood a number of families and staff would have had to quarantine.

“We have struggled to keep school open,” Havers emphasized. “Our school district was closed last year for more time than any other district in the county, except Willingboro, and we know our kids are paying a price for it, coming back. There are so many social and emotional challenges, that, for me, closing schools is a last resort. I feel like, as adults, we have to do that (keep schools open), if possible, for our kids.”

Havers, on Jan. 20, contended that “plenty of parents” are now “happy” with the reduction in the quarantining period because “their kids have been out of school three or four times this school year, for

♦ Page 15

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

10-day increments, because of being ‘close contacts.’”

“Please know, making a decision about guidance and not following it – that is a heavy decision I have to make. It is one I did not take lightly. When I was at BBQs this past summer, everybody shared their opinions with me.”

Not siding with one’s opinion, Havers contended, “is not out of lack of respect,” but the ultimate decision-making “is a responsibility that I have.” But while reducing the quarantine period was a “difficult decision,” Havers said he is “trying to balance the physical safety and health, but also the social and emotional health, of students and staff, as well as provide for “academic learning.”

The goal, he added, is “how can we best serve our students,” though he recognized “our staff have hard jobs” and “are doing a lot of work right now,” and it “is not easy for anyone, right now, in any environment.”

“W hen I am on the (cal l for the) superintendent’s meeting with the county, I hear many superintendents say, ‘Oh, this is the worst time ever to be a superintendent,’” Havers added. “But this is the worst time ever to be a teacher, the worst time ever to be a bus driver and the worst time ever to be an aide. And it is probably the worst time ever to work in a restaurant, to be a cook, and to work at ACME. These are really difficult times for everyone in our country, and probably even globally. I appreciate the work being done.”

(Havers also contended that temperature scans have been found to be ineffective and were resulting in students lining up close together and outside in inclement weather, the air purifier filters are changed regularly and all other districts in the county dock teachers’ sick days for COVID-related absences. The board solicitor, who often gazed at a large timer clock set up on a stage when staffers spoke out during the latest board meetings, and firmly gripped a control device for it, strictly enforcing a five-minute rule by waving his hand, pointed out that contract negotiations are continuing and that the latest round went past the midnight hour.)

While “board comments” were called off for both the Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 sessions, Board President Tom Bauer, in adjourning the latter meeting, declared, “Mr. Havers, thank-you very much for your commitment to our students.”

“I also want to thank all of you out there for sharing your ideas, disappointments and things like that,” Bauer added. “We do listen to you. We discuss these things on and on and on. It is very tough to be a board member to see what has happened to us because of COVID; and we are all struggling to make things better and I am counting on you to join us in doing that.”

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