Worship Guide

(Continued from Page 6) they don’t have the history of Pinelands work that Rick Prickett and D’Arcy Green have.”

There are, however, ways that those individuals could be brought on board, according to the PPA head, without weakening the agency’s mission of protecting the Pinelands Reserve from the threats posed by development and pollution. These include placing them in other available seats that are now vacant, replacing a commissioner who he claimed “hardly ever shows up and has done little to protect the Pinelands” (although he declined to name that member) or by confirming two individuals who were previously nominated by Murphy, Theresa Lettman and Jennifer Coffey, both of whom he called “proven environmental advocates.”

“In other words, you can either change where the newest people fit in, or you can get two of your pending nominees confirmed or a combination of these two things, so that the total package is stronger than where we are today,” Montgomery explained. “There is room to both keep your existing people or add your pending nominees who have a track record, and still add two new people like those whom the governor has nominated.”

But “‘proven’ is the key word here” when it comes to choosing members of the Pinelands Commission, he added.

The Pinelands Commission’s 15-member board consists of seven members who are appointed by the governor, one member appointed by each of the seven Pinelands counties, and one member appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The gubernatorial appointees are subject to the review and consent of the state Senate.

Commission members serve staggered, three-year terms and are uncompensated for their service. Both Prickett and Green are currently serving in terms that expired several years ago, as is Lloyd, but that, according to Montgomery, is a “normal” state of affairs on the commission, where members can remain in their slots following the expiration of their terms until such time as they are replaced by new nominees who are confirmed by the state Senate.

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“And I have no problem doing that,” the superintendent declared. “So, in the future, I will ensure that if there are rumors circulating and parents are feeling uneasy, staff are uneasy as well as students, I will make sure that I am the one that gets the message out.”

And that next message came only a couple days later, on Dec. 6, when “Wildcat Families” were informed that “this morning, a student at the high school was overheard telling other students he was going to bring a gun into school.”

“The student was immediately removed from class, searched and removed from school grounds,” the message stated. “We are not taking this incident lightly. Any students who make comments like this will be sent for a psychiatric evaluation and immediately removed from school. Thank-you to the staff members for their quick response.”

McCooley, in her video, noted that the next meeting of the Pinelands Regional Board of Education is scheduled for Dec. 14 and that childcare will now be offered to those who wish to attend (some had previously complained they couldn’t attend in-person due to childcare obligations) and email her in advance.

She also made mention of an uptick in Coronavirus cases confirmed in the district, maintaining that the Ocean County Health Department is providing guidance as to whether to “shut down a classroom or a wing.”

“We do not want to have to shut the school down,” McCooley asserted. “So, we are doing the best we can in that respect.”

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