Pine Barrens Tribune March 26, 2022-April 1, 2022

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FR EE

March 26 - April 1, 2022

Evesham Parents Seek End to District Policy of Charging Tuition for Full-Day Kindergarten

‘YOU CAN’T CUT EVERYTHING’

Township Council Asked to Support Elimination of $5,500 Fee to Allow ‘Equal Access for All’

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—When Lisa Argust and her husband, Mark, decided to settle in Marlton (also known as Evesham Township) as opposed to another community in the area, the “number-one negotiable” that sold her on the desirability of the locale was its highranked schools, as she told the Evesham Township Council at its March 9 meeting.

“A long w ith $12,0 0 0 i n t axe s, my expectations were high,” Argust recalled. “I couldn’t wait to get my child out of daycare.”

But her enthusiasm about what she thought would be a superior educational opportunity from the get-go was soon extinguished when she learned what it would take to get her daughter enrolled in the local school district’s full-day kindergarten, as opposed to just a half-day session—a tuition fee of $5,500.

“But wait, there isn’t tu ition-fre e kindergarten and equal access for all?

You’ve got to be kidding me!” she said was her initial reaction to this information.

Lisa Argust noted it actually caused her to rethink the decision she made with her husband to move to Marlton.

“How are we going to do this, if we take the half-day option?” she remembered wondering. “My husband and I both work.

We would have to leave our desk, pick up our daughter and take her to childcare.”

The policy, she maintained, is one that “really

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Pemberton Township Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Havers on March 17.

After Revelation That Fort Dix Elementary Has Lost Some 200 Students Since 2020, and Enrollment is Down Sharply in Pemberton Schools From Where It Once Stood, School Board Discusses Need to Change ‘Perception’ About Offerings, Environment Despite Part of the Perception Involving Lost Programs, and Board Members Discussing Need to Bring Offerings Back, Administration Details Future Plans to Cut More Due to State Aid Cuts

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Fort Dix Elementary School, one of nine schools in the Pemberton Township School District, has seen a “very glowing” decline in enrollment over the past two years, Superintendent Jeffrey Havers revealed during a Saint Patrick’s Day Pemberton Board of Education meeting, with a couple hundred military-connected families from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-

Lakehurst (JBMDL) now reportedly choosing to send their children to the North Hanover Township School District.

That revelation from the Pemberton sup er i ntendent wou ld g ive way to Pemb er ton School Board Memb er Sherry Scull bringing to light that the Pemberton district, as a whole, has seen a sharp decline in student enrollment over from where it once stood, as was later confirmed by this newspaper in reviewing fall enrollment data from the New Jersey

Department of Education (NJDOE).

A n d t h e s o m e wh at i mp ro mp t u discussion that originated from a concern over a plan to drop summer enrichment programs beginning in 2024 continued from there, with two Pemberton school board members even revealing at one point that their own family members are inclined not to send their children to Pemberton Schools as of right now.

See ENROLLMENT/ Page 6

See TUITION/ Page 9

INDEX April Events..............................................11

Marketplace..................................................... 14

Business Directory...................................12

Worship Guide..........................................11

Local News.................................................2

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Page 2 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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State Aid to Pemberton Schools Cut by Another $4.8 Million; District Budget Calls for Tax Hike and Attrition, But No Layoffs Official Warns ‘Pretty Significant’ Job Cuts Anticipated Year from Now

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

P E M B E RT O N —T h e P e m b e r t o n Township School District has received its state aid figures for the 2022-23 school year, and according to Business Administrator Daniel Smith during a St. Patrick’s Day me eting of the Pember ton Board of Education, the Pemberton district is slated to lose another $4.8 million in state funding for the upcoming school year on top of some $11 million already in cuts since the 2017-18 school year.

“There is some good news, and some bad news, but overall, it was OK,” said Smith of the state’s preliminary 2023 budget information released on March 10, which contains 2022-23 school year aid allotment figures for each school district in the state, including Pemberton. “It was a little better than we expected, but still not great.”

What that “some good news” entails, Smith explained, is that the Pemberton district has maintained a higher tax rate than the statewide average (even though the statewide average decreased some from where it was last year), allowing for “municipal overburden” to “kick in,” or a condition that says, “reductions in aid cannot exceed the amount in which the district is spending above adequacy.”

“So, if our overburden was not met, our reduction would have been $7.6 million,” Smith said. “Because we did meet our municipal overburden, our aid reduction

was only $4.8 million. I say ‘only’ $4.8 million, but $4.8 million is a lot better than $7.6 million. It is an almost a $2.9 million dollar difference.”

Also falling into that category of “some good news,” according to Smith, is there is a continued commitment from the state to provide for military aid (around $1 million), a new form of assistance introduced during the early part of the current school year to districts like Pemberton with militaryconnected students (from neighboring Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst).

That continuance of military aid, the avoidance of a worst-case scenario involving state assistance reductions due to achieving municipal overburden, along with recent health and pension benefit “savings” as well as temporary, federal Coronavirus pandemic relief funding has all come together, Smith noted, to provide for a situation in which the district, for the first time in the last several years, is presenting a budget (currently tentative for the 2022-23 school year) that does not call for “job loss cuts.”

However, among the “bad news” is that there is still a $4.8 million decrease in funding the district must contend with, and as Smith pointed out, district taxpayers will have to make up for some of the difference, with another 9 percent increase in the local school tax levy proposed for both Pemberton Township and Pemberton Borough homeowners.

See BUDGET/ Page 8

Three Alleged Medford Twp. Actions in Span of Few Days Involving Same Family Reignites Prior Firewood, Tree Removal Controversy Text Messages Indicate Medford Mayor Has Unresolved Firewood Debt; Facebook Post Suggests Neighbor Feud; Adding to Complexities of Mess Entailing Barn Being Ordered Torn Down, ‘Unannounced’ Visit to Job Site

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—An old controversy that had seemingly gone away involving a Medford Township family’s tree farm and firewood stand, as well as a tree service co-owned by two descendants who are twin brothers, has apparently been reignited by a series of alleged township actions over the past two weeks involving the tree farm and service.

What exactly has led to the three purported township actions over a reportedly several day period, with members of the same family at the center of them, was not immediately clear as of this newspaper’s deadline time, as the township manager, municipal tax assessor as well as the top zoning official for the municipality, who oversees township code enforcement, all declined to either comment or return messages seeking comment on this story. This newspaper made several attempts by phone and email in asking municipal officials to tell their side of what transpired, even agreeing to email all its questions to an official.

But, in addition to a purported ongoing feud between the family at issue and a neighbor, text messages provided to this newspaper indicate that Medford Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson had some sort of an unresolved debt with a member of the family over a firewood purchase he made in January, with that member of the family, prior to the township actions, attempting several times via text message over a several week period to make a collection.

Watson, within a couple minutes of this newspaper inquiring on March 22 about the Jan. 18 firewood purchase and apparently unresolved dispute, both telephoned and messaged (as a screenshot provided to

this newspaper indicates) David Carns, a co-owner of the tree service and firewood stand, as well as a joint caretaker of the Carns Family Farm, pleading with him to call him back “as soon as you can.”

Additionally, according to David Carns, in a March 23 telephone interview with this newspaper, the Medford mayor sent a series of messages to him and the other tree service co-owner and farm caretaker, Brian Carns, twin brother to David, throughout the night of March 22 into the early morning hours of March 23, some of which they contend have since been deleted.

But in those messages, as well as in phone calls, according to David Carns, Watson tried to arrange payment, purportedly informing the twin brothers that he would even be willing to send a “certified check” and that a check had been sitting “in his Jeep” all this time.

A red Jeep is shown to be parked on the mayor’s property in a Google Maps image.

“Regarding the firewood purchase, there is nothing to investigate,” Watson wrote to this newspaper in a March 23 email, after being informed of a newspaper investigation looking into the grievances made to this newspaper by David Carns. “Almost two cords of firewood (were) delivered to my house and I sent them a check.”

Watson did not respond by deadline time to a follow-up inquiry asking when that check was sent or if he had any proof of payment, as well as if he had an explanation for the contents of the text messages.

But David Carns, when that 1:54 p.m.

March 23 claim from the Medford mayor was told to him, responded he has not yet received a check, but that since calling this See CONTROVERSY/ Page 10

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GOP Legislators Blast Murphy Administration for Proposed Cuts to PILOT Program, Continued Decreases in State Aid to Schools

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

MOUNT HOLLY—The three Republican legislators representing New Jersey’s 8th Legislative District have taken the administration of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy to task for its proposal to institute a 35 percent cut in a funding program intended to reimburse Pinelands communities for revenues lost to state preservation efforts, which was partially restored last year, as well as for continuing to cut allocations for rural and suburban schools in South Jersey.

In a sharply worded press release, the recently-elected legislative team of Senator Jean Stanfield, as well as Assemblymen Michael Torrissi and Brandon Umba, has denounced the administration’s proposed $3.5 million reduction in the Open Space Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program in the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget. The PILOT compensates communities for the loss of property taxes on lands taken over by the state. The dedicated fund was created to offset the loss of ratables created by the 1979 Pinelands Preservation Act, which declared large swaths of land undevelopable.

“Sadly, this is what South Jersey has come to expect during the yearly budget process, but it’s not how it has to continue,” said Stanfield, a former assemblywoman and long-time Burlington County sheriff.

“Last year, we fought to successfully restore Pinelands funding, and it looks like we have to start that fight all over again this year. But that is what we’re here for.”

Tor r isi was even more outspoken, contending that “in a year when New Jersey has received billions of dollars in federal funding and billions in added revenue, it’s a cruel punch to the gut to people in the Pinelands to slash the one funding source that keeps their property taxes stable.”

“On top of that, many of the towns that are affected by this, and other towns in the 8th District, continue to see their school funding aid cut by the state,” he added, referring to the results of the S-2 school funding bill the Democratic-controlled state Legislature passed in 2018.

Requests to Murphy’s office for a response to the legislators’ charges about the PILOT program reduction were still unanswered as of this newspaper’s deadline time on March 23.

In addition to those cuts, the budget proposal includes a $251,806,000 reduction in the overall New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection (NJDEP) budget, from $720,576,000 last year to $468,770,000, or a cut of 34.9 percent.

However, according to NJDEP Assistant Commissioner for Management and Budget Adrienne Kreipke, while that “might at first appear to be a 34.9 percent funding decrease,” what it represents is an “adjusted” figure that includes $287.5 million in nonrecurring supplemental appropriations, including from the Preserve New Jersey Open Space Reserve.

In the budget for the coming fiscal year, Kreipke said, Murphy has actually proposed an additional $42.6 million for the NJDEP, including increases for flood control, urban parks, investments in “green economy” job training programs, and for programs such as watershed restoration, brownfields cleanup, underground storage tank remediation, and other hazardous discharge remediation.

The revised school funding formula has resulted in cuts that are expected to go on impacting many 8th Legislative District schools through the 2024-25 school year.

“For four years, our schools have been begging for the funding decreases to stop or pause, or at least slow down,” asserted Umba. “We’ve seen staffing cuts, increased classroom sizes and program cuts ever since these changes were passed. The Governor and legislature can’t say they’re serious about educating our children when there’s billions of dollars entering the state’s coffers and we’re still committing draconian cuts to schools.”

Umba pointed out that “schools in my district, like Evesham and Pemberton,” are losing millions of dollars every year,” adding that “pausing their funding cuts needs to be a top priority in this year’s budget.”

The governor’s office has released a statement regarding school funding (see separate story).

“The budget proposal unveiled on Tuesday is a reflection of my administration’s ongoing commitment to maintaining the strength of New Jersey’s school system,” said Murphy through the press release. “We place great value on providing all students with access to a worldclass education, and this budget continues to support students and school districts. We also know that schools account for more than half of the average property tax bill in New Jersey.

By adequately funding our public schools, we are allowing towns to maintain high-quality educational programs without passing the additional cost on to property taxpayers.”

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A Pillar of the Community has Just Gotten ‘Even Better’ Better’ ‘Grand Opening’ of New Location for Pinelands Library Branch Also Commemorates Its 50th Anniversary of Serving Community Medford and Its Mayor Commended by Commissioner for ‘Great Job’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—The 50th Anniversary of the Pinelands Library Branch of the Burlington County Library System was celebrated on March 16 by local, county, and state officials commemorating the relocation of the branch from a building at 39 Allen Street to Medford Town Hall, a two-story, combination librarymunicipal building at 49 Union Street that just had a grand opening celebration of its own last month.

Medford Township officials, during the official grand opening celebration specific to the Pinelands Library last Wednesday, were commended for the “great job” that they did in seeing the some $10 million building through to its completion.

Burlington County Library System D i r e c t or Ra njn a D a s , du r i ng t h e celebration, pointed out that before county library systems were even established some 100 years ago in New Jersey, municipal libraries were often setup in “creative ways,” including in the “backrooms of schools, or in people’s homes.”

Sometimes those wanting to find a good read or hear from a poet, she said, would go to “people’s kitchens, foyers or living rooms” that would be transformed into local libraries.

“We looked at our archive and photos,” Das noted. “And we found one of them in Medford. Mrs. Haines had set up shop in a house, offering a library in her house.”

Haines is a “very prominent name” in historic Medford, Das pointed out, with the Johnathan Haines House next door to the current Pinelands Branch, a historical dwelling recognized for being the “oldest house in Medford on land patented to the builder’s father in 1682.”

Burlington County Commissioner Tom Pullion, the commissioners’ liaison to the Burlington County Library System, noted that “Burlington County was the first in New Jersey to start a county library system,” opening its first library in 1921 “in a single room in the Mount Holly YMCA.” “100 years ago, a local assemblyman wrote a bill and he urged the state to form a county library system,” Das explained.

“Before that, we had municipal libraries, but no real organized ways of getting the county library involved to get services into our community.”

The county library system has “been growing” since 1921 (now with eight branches serving the county and 7 others that are members and part of the system, but funded separately), including with the opening of the original location of the Pinelands Branch in 1972, or what would serve as the county’s fourth library in the county library system.

The Pinelands Library, according to a later press release about the new location’s grand opening celebration, originally opened on February 14, 1972, in a “former bus garage at the corner of Allen Avenue and Main Street.”

“Fast forward a couple decades later (from

when the county library system was created), and in 1972, that is when the Medford Library Association formed with a goal of setting up a library branch,” Das explained. “They wanted to move away from past years of when people opened up in their homes to open a public branch in a building.”

The Pinelands Library, it was noted in the press release, “became an instant success,” and its now-former Allen Avenue building was expanded in 1984 to accommodate a dedicated children’s section.

Pullion called the Pinelands Library “a pillar for Medford and the other surrounding communities” for the past 50 years.

“This library has helped children discover the joys and wonders of reading,” the county commissioner declared. “It’s been a resource for students, for families and for working adults and local seniors, and it’s now capable of becoming an even greater community resource.”

Pullion pointed out that the new Pinelands Library has the “same outstanding staff as the old location” and a “diverse collection of materials.”

“But now it also has many of the modern amenities residents want and expect to find in a community library: a dedicated technology center, study room, event space, plus a larger children’s department,” Pullion said. “It’s everything we dreamed it would be and more. We are thrilled to see it finally become a reality.”

Last Wednesday’s ceremony not only featured remarks about the library’s history and importance, but also a special, engaging performance by “Mr. Scott the Music Man,” a popular children’s music performer.

Visitors also had the opportunity to tour the new library space and meet with library staff.

“Our libraries help entertain and enlighten residents of all ages,” Pullion declared. “They help residents find jobs and services they need. They are destinations where people can meet and connect with each other and the larger world.

“Today, we celebrate Pinelands Library and its 50th anniversary, but we also celebrate all our libraries and the services they provide our communities. We wouldn’t be this great county without them.”

Ralph Shrom, a member of the Burlington County Library System (BCLS) Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the library, was credited during the ceremony for having “started the project and setting us on a great path.” Medford Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson, a Republican, was described as a “great partner throughout this process.”

“I just want to commend Medford,” said Pullion, a Democrat on the county com missioners’ board, who is from Edgewater Park. “What a great job mayor!

You folks (that made this possible); this is awesome! I am so jealous; I am going to run back to Edgewater Park to see if I can build one of these!”

Photos By Douglas D. Melegari

Local, state and county officials celebrate the grand opening of the new location for the Pinelands Library Branch on March 16, with library patrons and visitors in attendance.

Page 6 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Sherry Scull, a member of the Pemberton Board of Education, declares “someone needs to get ahold of that issue” of non-military students leaving the Pemberton Township School District (as well as military connected students).

ENROLLMENT (Continued from Page 1)

A COVID shutdown decision, needed changes to the district’s “environment,” as well as eliminations to student programming resulting from the last several years of budgetary cuts were all cited during the course of the discussion as reasons why families are choosing to (or considering) send(ing) their children elsewhere, as well as the need for “adequate athletic facilities.”

Pemberton School Business Administrator Daniel Smith had just finished presenting to the Pemberton school board the tentative 2022-23 school year budget he put together, accounting for a $4.8 million loss in state funding for the upcoming school year on top of some $11 million already in cuts since the 2017-18 school year, when the discussion came about.

As a result of the funding cuts, the district, he noted, has moved its kindergarten aides out of the Pemberton district’s General Fund, and will be supporting them for the 2022-23 school year with temporary Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funds, provided to school districts as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

After that, he noted, the aide positions would be eliminated “as of 6-30-23.” (See

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM separate story.)

Also moved to ESSER funding, Smith pointed out, are the Pemberton district’s “extended Jr. Hive Services” (student support services) as well as “summer school and enrichment,” which he declared would “disappear” and be “eliminated” and “not return” to the district’s General Fund when the ESSER funding is exhausted (though he waffled on that position in the wake of critical school board member questions).

“When I moved to Pemberton, I came because of that summer program – I loved it,” Lowery declared. “If my kid doesn’t get enrichment, my kid then falls back, the teachers (also) struggle and then it becomes a behavior issue.

“And guess what, as a military person, I’m moving my kid.”

Lowery then declared “we have to be “creative” from the “top-down,” and even suggested that the Pemberton district administration consider bringing in a “consultant.” She also impressed upon the Pemberton district administration and her colleagues on the Pemberton board that you can’t “market the town” and its school system without having such programs, declaring, “You can’t cut everything.”

That led Havers to point out that he met with Congressman Andy Kim (of the state’s Third Congressional District, which includes Pemberton Borough and Township) on March 15, as well as attended a conference in Washington D.C. to “advocate to get more money.”

“But the reality is, if we don’t get more money – the only answer we have right now is to get more money,” Havers declared. “Now, how do we get more money? Enrollment can help.”

The Pemberton superintendent then explained that “we have a real tough time with two things,” including that families who live on JBMDL “get to choose” where to send their children to school.

“North Hanover opened a brand-new school, which is attractive,” Havers said.

“And then, last (school) year, they were open, and we were closed. I want to repeat that – they were open all year; we were closed a good half of the year. They were open for full days, five days a week for everybody. We didn’t come close to that.”

As a result, Havers continued, “I (had) many people coming to me, saying, ‘I want to leave Fort Dix because I want to go there.

They are going to school, and we are not.’”

At one point, Havers acknowledged, the “commanders of the Joint Base” met with the Pemberton superintendent, reportedly asking, ‘“What are you doing?’” and, ‘” When are you going to open.’” It was one of the first meetings he had as superintendent, Havers pointed out.

“We have to rebuild our reputation,” Havers declared. “What happens now is when people are moving in, they go, ‘What school should I go to?’ So, we have to bring

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people back.”

T he Pemb er ton sup er i ntendent maintained the Pemberton district has “better teachers,” “better curriculum,” and “better programs.”

“They (North Hanover) may have a nicer building,” Havers asserted. “But I think we have what is most important for kids.”

Helen E. Payne, superintendent of North Hanover Schools, did not return this newspaper’s emailed inquiry for this story as of press time. Frances Mulryne, Payne’s executive assistant, had asked this newspaper to email any questions for this story to Payne.

In pointing out that the Pemberton district has increased the number of open houses and is considering “student ambassadors,” Havers said, “We need to get them (the base families and their children) in our buildings to meet our staff and our principals.”

The Pemberton superintendent pointed to the student ambassadors as an example of the district administration “trying to be creative.”

“You’re right, we have to bring people back, which will help us,” Havers told Lowery. “Because the only thing we can do is get more money or increase enrollment, which will get us more money.”

The Pemberton superintendent, who pointed out that having more ratables would also help in that regard, maintained “there is not one of us” who wants to cut summer programs or kindergarten aides, or have larger class sizes, “but these are the realities we are dealing with.”

“The key is, right now, how do we get more money,” Havers said.

Lowery, however, contended that there are ways to “rebrand” without “it coming from our pockets,” such as the Pemberton district holding book fairs, promoting its “great” as well as “awesome” school plays or the Pemberton school board members simply “coming in here with our school colors on.”

She pointed out that the Pemberton school board members have not even been wearing Pemberton school colors, which would help to convey Pemberton Pride.

“You can’t change the numbers, but you can change perception,” Lowery said. “You have to come up with creative way to make people want to be ‘us.’”

Havers, in reply, maintained that the Pemberton district has been “hammering away” at creating videos to present to families living on base.

Scull then asked Smith if enrollment equates to the amount of state aid the Pemberton district receives, causing the Pemberton school business administrator to reply, “Eventually, it will be,” but currently, “Not so much.”

“Unless they are military-connected,” Smith added.

T h e P e mb e r t o n s c h o o l b u s i n e s s administrator noted, however, that non-

military students would only correlate in an increased amount of aid to the district if there were some 500 added to the Pemberton district’s rolls.

“How many students have we lost that moved out of the township and borough into like Southampton, or other districts, because they are afraid to send their children to our middle school and high school?” Scull asked. “I would really like to have that information, because not only should we be worrying about our military kids, but we should also be worrying about the kids who we have here and that they are not leaving our district!”

Scull maintained that she knew “it is an issue in our community.”

“Somewhere, someone needs to get ahold of that issue and put it in your minds, because it is not just me saying this – it is factual!” Scull declared.

Each fall, the NJDOE collects enrollment data from each school district and each individual school in New Jersey. It then compiles Excel spreadsheets with that data and posts them online.

For the 2020-21 school year (the latest year available with the NJDOE not returning a request as of press time for the 2021-22 school year stats), according to the state data, the Pemberton district had 4,355 students enrolled, compared to 5,028 students in the 2014-15 school year, a drop of 673 students over the approximately five-year period.

Since the 2018-19 school year up until the latest year of available data, the district has lost between 150 and 225 students annually (with the state’s data not yet reflecting the COVID shutdown enrollment decline that Havers mentioned).

“Are they leaving because we no longer have any programs at the high school, such as Auto Shop, Woodworking and Welding?”

Scull asked. “These are programs we had forever! And I know you tried to hire an auto teacher (see separate story). I don’t think we have Bakery anymore. We have very few programs that interest kids who aren’t going to college!”

Scull, who has been critical of the district administration at several school board meetings, further declared, “Somewhere, in the administration’s minds that has to start counting for something!”

“I don’t want to hear, ‘We just need our military kids!’” Scull further asserted. “I want to hear that we are making changes in this district so that parents on the soccer fields and ballfields aren’t saying, ‘Pemberton is fine for elementary, but then you have to send your child somewhere else.’ And that is a fact!”

Smith, in a rebuttal, maintained that, “We are just not solely focused on military students.” But it was in that rebuttal that he revealed that there had even been a proposal he made to eliminate “middle school athletics.”

“We put a lot of money into high school See ENROLLMENT/ Page 7

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Pemberton School Board Member Lionel Lee, a former corrections officer and Pemberton district basketball coach, declares he is glad the Pemberton district’s assistant superintendent intervened and prevented a proposal to cut middle school athletics, calling athletics “one of the main promoters of your district.”

ENROLLMENT (Continued from Page 6)

athletics the last couple of years,” Smith said. “We tried to keep as many clubs and programs in place. I know (Assistant Superintendent) Mrs. (Adelina G.) Giannetti doesn’t want me to talk about programs, but I’ll give you one example, I wanted to cut middle school athletics, she (Giannetti) wouldn’t let me. So, we are having those discussions and are trying to keep as many extracurricular and programmatic things in place that we can. But like Mr. Havers said, we have to cut. No matter what we do, we are going to be cutting $5 million in the 2023-24 budget.”

However, Smith in pointing to the “perception” that Scull offered about Pemberton families leaving because of the elimination of the programs, maintained that “if that is the perception, we have to work on that.”

T h e P e mb e r t o n s c h o o l b u s i n e s s administrator also reiterated that the Pemberton district administration was focused on all Pemberton district students, but Havers followed up, asserting, “But I will say that we lost 200 students at Fort Dix over the last two years.”

“That is a pretty clear loss,” Havers declared. “And what we know is if we get those kids back, that is a direct impact in terms of an increase in military aid. We can get other kids back, but that is not going to make a huge difference in terms of our funding.”

“The loss,” the Pemberton superintendent further contended, is “pretty direct” over the “last two years” and “it is at Fort Dix.” “It is very glowing,” Havers maintained.

“That is why we are targeting that.”

The Pemberton superintendent asserted he would “love to have more programs” but that “the amount of money we have” prevents that from happening and if something is added, “then we have to make a decision about cutting something else.”

“And that ‘something else’ is something we will then say, ‘We want,’” Havers contended.

Scull pointed out that she has been in Pemberton for 40 years and recounted when “we had over 8,000 kids in this district.” And “what bothers me,” she said, is that she is seeing a decline in enrollment at Marcus Newcomb Middle School, for example.

“So, already, next year, we are going to be lower in the count at the middle school,” Scull said. “We need to keep the kids we have! We have to work on that perception in the community! If not, we might as well close up shop!”

This newspaper previously reported numerous Pemberton teachers and parents describing a mental health and behavioral “crisis” at Pemberton Schools during various Pemberton school board sessions held during this current school year. Scull maintained that she was sure “hiring of the extra security guards has helped” but that the Pemberton district administration “needs to focus on what is the real problem.”

“Part of that is having consequences for the children who act out because that is why people say, ‘I’m outta here,’ and go to Southampton and Seneca (a neighboring high school part of the Lenape Regional High School District),” Scull declared. “In order to sustain our budget, we have to create an atmosphere where kids and parents feel safe.”

Havers, in a rebuttal to Scull’s remarks, maintained that “no matter what the budget

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 7

is,” the district administration is “completely dedicated” to “providing the best possible education we can.” But “depending on what the budget is,” the Pemberton superintendent acknowledged, “will deter m ine what resources we can provide.”

Pemberton School Board Member Terry Maldonado, in “jumping in” on what Scull had just raised, noted that “if you are on the outside looking in at Pemberton” it “looks like we have nothing to offer.”

“We have no shops (courses),” said Maldonado, who chairs the Pemberton school board’s policy committee. “We have nothing left for these kids. We have to bring something into this district to benefit us.”

Maldonado further maintained that “kids are not just going to come to Pemberton ‘to come to Pemberton.’” Instead, she said, “they need a reason to come.”

“There has to be something they want,” she added. “Say Auto Shop, Welding or Mechanics.”

The second-longest serving Pemberton school board member noted that both her son and her grandchild are interested in welding and that it pays very well currently.

“You have to go outside of Pemberton to get it,” she said of the lack of such trade’s programs in Pemberton. “I even got a postcard from Seneca of everything they offer. And I am thinking, ‘Wow, Pemberton doesn’t have this.’ And you know what my daughter says to me, ‘I’m going to move my daughter to Seneca’s schools.’”

Havers, while recognizing Seneca is promoting their various program offerings to out-of-district students, pointed to the drawbacks of its offerings, maintaining “they are charging $8,000 and you have to provide your own transportation.”

He added that one could also move to Seneca’s serving area (Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland townships) but there See ENROLLMENT/ Page 9

Page 8 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Pemberton School Business Administrator Daniel Smith discusses on March 17 the latest state aid cut of $4.8 million to the Pemberton district.

BUDGET

(Continued from Page 2) And while the Pemberton district is not proposing to lay any of its employees off this go-around, it is planning to eliminate a handful of positions in the 2022-23 budget through “attrition,” Smith noted.

In previewing the 2022-23 school year budget for the Pemberton district, one tentatively approved by the Pemberton school board during its March 17 work session meeting to be forwarded to the executive county superintendent for review ahead of a planned final adoption in April, a number of revelations were made, including that a suggestion by Smith to eliminate “middle school athletics” was overruled

by Assistant Superintendent Adelina G. Giannetti (see separate story).

Others included that “pretty significant” job losses are expected in the 2023-24 school year; the “current plan” is to eliminate the Pemberton district’s summer enrichment and junior high student support services upon exhaustion of the federal relief funds currently supporting those programs, though there has been “some discussion” about not following through on that plan; and some eighteen kindergarten aides are anticipated to be “eliminated as of 6-30-23.”

The Pemberton district, which comprises nine schools, also receives federal aid, in addition to state aid, explained Smith on March 17, with the local district due to receive a total of $72,460,823 in financial assistance from both the state and federal governments for the 2022-23 school year.

However, he noted, that figure represents a “decrease of $4 million,” or a drop from $76,507,382, a difference of $4,046,559.

Federal aid to the Pemberton district, Smith added, increased a little bit from the

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM 2021-22 school year allotment, but the reason for the difference of $4,046,559 is that the state aid to the district has been tentatively cut by $4,838,974 over the current school year.

The Pemberton district’s proposed budget for the 2022-23 school year is $107,839,966 and included in that is $11,220,418 in “special revenue.”

With the state and federal government kicking in $72,460,823, as well as special revenue of $11,220,418 (the majority of which is special preschool aid and a couple of grant awards), that leaves $24,212,725 to be raised through other, local revenue sources, according to Smith.

For the 2021-22 school year, the local tax levy, or the amount to be raised through taxes in the district’s sending communities of Pemberton Township and Pemberton Borough, was $18,580,573, according to a chart Smith presented to the Pemberton school board.

Smith, in receiving tentative budget approval from the Pemberton board, is proposing another 9 percent increase in the local tax levy, or increasing it by $1,672,252, to $20,252,825. The remaining $3,959,900 that is needed to balanc e the latest Pemberton budget would be covered by $1,500,000 from a fund balance account and a $1,970,150 “withdrawal” from “reserves,” in addition to $489,750 being pulled from “miscellaneous” areas, according to the chart Smith presented.

An average homeowner in Pemberton Borough, or one that has their property assessed at the borough average of $184,000, would see their school taxes rise for the 202223 school year by $281 (or what amounts to $23.43 per month), meaning they will have to pay a total of $2,550 in school taxes for the upcoming school year.

In Pemberton Township, an average homeowner, or one that has their property assessed at the township average of $164,000, will see their school taxes rise for the 202223 school year by $172 (or what amounts to $14.30 per month), meaning they will have to pay a total of $2,084 in school taxes for the upcoming school year.

The state’s latest school funding formula, which was enacted in 2018 and is known as “S-2,” calls for Pemberton Borough and Township taxpayers, Smith explained, to pay their “local fair share” of $1,546,410 and $22,612,701, respectively, or the amount ($24,159,111 in this particular case) the state believes “a district can afford to contribute toward the adequacy budget” or “what local taxpayers should be contributing to our annual budget.”

S-2 implements annual funding cuts in school district’s such as Pemberton considered by the state to be “over adequacy,” gradually phasing in state aid cuts over a seven-year period until the local fair share is met, Smith explained.

The Pemberton board previously adopted a plan to increase the local tax levy annually

during that period by 9 percent to arrive at the local fair share.

But because of the impacts brought on by budgetary funding cuts over the last several years, there have been calls by some, including a now-ex Pemberton school board member, to raise the local tax levy by even more.

With another 9 percent increase in the local tax levy proposed for both the 202324 and 2024-25 school years, as well as a 2 percent increase in the local tax levy proposed for the 2025-26 school year, Smith contended the district will reach (as well as slightly exceed) its local fair share in the 2025-26 school year with a local tax levy of $24,543,628.

“We are slowly getting (to) our local fair share,” Smith declared. “So, we are on a trajectory to meet our local fair share in the 2025-26 school year, which is the first year out of S-2.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune has covered a number of Pemberton school board meetings this current school year where numerous teachers and parents of the Pemberton district have decried having apparently been told by Havers to “do more with less,” discussing strenuous situations in Pemberton district schools because of less staffing and resources, the result of previous budget cuts in response to the decline in state aid and the need to balance the district budget.

The Pemberton superintendent, on several occasions, has acknowledged that this is the first year the district is feeling the full effects of the budget cuts that have already been made.

According to Smith, the proposed 202223 school year Pemberton budget proposes additional reductions totaling $4,936,142, with $3,895,628 tentatively reduced in “salary and benefits.”

The rest of the reductions are coming from areas such as supplies and miscellaneous services ($522,845), professional services ($283,159), tuition and fees ($137,899) as well as equipment ($96,611), which Smith maintained “are all really down to the bone” now.

So much so, Smith asserted at one point, “We are taking a chance to reduce those budgets.”

The Pemberton district, he said, in doing so, “is trying to be creative with sharing services” and “trying to make sure we get the best prices.”

In revealing that the “biggest’ reduction in the proposed 2022-23 school year Pemberton budget is to “salary and benefits,” Smith said that a lot of it this year is from a “reallocation” made possible by “health and pension benefit savings,” with the “state keeping its premium increases low, if not zero” in some cases.

“We’ve lost several staff members over last couple of years,” Smith pointed out. “…

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reduced due to this budget as of right now.”

However, ac cording to Sm ith, one administrative support position will be eliminated through attrition, with the person filling the role currently retiring, as well as five other positions that have been left vacant since retirements and resignations that occurred during the “middle part” of this current school year.

Three of the vacant positions are at the Pemberton district’s elementary level (including a Spanish teacher post), while the other two are at the secondary level, Smith added.

During a subsequent budget presentation to Pemberton Borough Council on March 21, Smith explained that one of the positions at the secondary level being eliminated through attrition is for a teacher to teach Auto Shop, a post he contended the Pemberton district has been unable to find a replacement to fill.

The other position being eliminated at the secondary level is one for a math teacher, according to Smith during the Pemberton school board meeting held on March 17.

While the proposed budget for the upcoming school year proposes no job loses, as Havers put it to Pemberton Borough Council on March 21, ‘it’s a little bit deceptive” as “federal dollars” are being used in it to carry 18 full-time kindergarten aides for the 202223 school year, with Smith explaining that the salaries for those aides have been moved out of the Pemberton district’s General Fund and will now be funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funds disbursed to districts such as Pemberton due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

“I want to reiterate that the kindergarten aides are being moved to ESSER III funds, which will disappear,” said Smith during the March 17 Pemberton school board meeting.

According to Smith on both March 17 and 21, the Pemberton district received $6,556,699 in ESSER III funding, which in addition to supporting kindergarten aides, will go towards supporting interim teachers, school helper aides, a dean of students, and employee benefits with a required set-aside and use for HVAC projects (to improve air quality conditions inside schools because of the nature of COVID).

The ESSER III funds “will expire” on Sept. 30, 2024, Smith noted, but the district anticipates exhausting them “no later than” Aug. 31, 2024, with not enough relief money to carry more than a year of kindergarten aides.

“Aides in kindergarten classrooms will be eliminated as of 6-30-23,” declared Smith both on March 17 and 21.

Smith noted on March 17 that while the Pemberton district’s “goal over the last few years” has been to “strive” to keep the number of layoffs at zero, “and that is the goal moving forward,” it is “going to be extremely hard next year.”

See BUDGET/ Page 14

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TUITION

(Continued from Page 1) leaves working parents in a bind and forced to pay $5,500,” a figure she called “unaffordable in an already unaffordable town.”

Lisa Argust was one of several parents who came forward during the public comment portion of the council session to ask for the governing body’s support in having the kindergarten tuition fee dispensed with, even though the matter is one that falls under the jurisdiction of the school district, rather than town government.

Exacerbating the economic inequity of the charge, according to another speaker, Dorian Carleton, is Evesham being “one of the last two districts in Burlington County that charges for full-day kindergarten,” the other being Moorestown, which she said charges $1,400 a year less. (While the latter figure was verified, repeated attempts to confirm the accuracy of the rest of her statement with the state Department of Education were unsuccessful).

“We are not pushing for an initiative to put us ahead of other districts – we need equal access to full-day kindergarten just to be on par with the majority of other towns,” Carleton declared. “Tuition-based full-day kindergarten was instituted years ago as a revenue generator, but it is time for a change.”

Carleton also noted that an online petition to the township board of education is currently posted at Change.org demanding “equal access to full-day kindergarten for all Evesham Township School District families.” The petition was launched two months ago by Danielle Remus and had garnered 1,684 signatures as of March 23.

The current arrangement, claims a letter accompanying the petition, “creates inequality for our students as they enter our education system,” in that children enrolled only in the

half-day program “receive 85 minutes less in daily literacy education, 10-15 minutes less in daily math instruction, 44 minutes less of choice learning time when replaced by a related arts period, and 228 minutes less for total educational, emotional and social learning,” as well as opportunities to relate to classmates during lunch and recess, learning time in small groups, and some school-wide activities.

Asked by the Pine Barrens Tribune whether a change from this model might be considered by the district, Evesham School Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith replied by email that full-day kindergarten, for all, at no extra cost to parents, “is a great topic for discussion, and one with challenging timing.”

“What makes the timing challenging?

Smith asked. “Among other factors, our district is losing $7.6 million in state funding over seven years.”

Smith in his response, noted that “for 2022-23, year five of seven (of a revised school funding formula, known as S-2 for the legislation that implemented it), we are losing $1.5 million in state aid.”

The annual cost to make full-day kindergarten fully district-funded would be approximately $2 million, the superintendent claimed.

“We are discussing this topic as a board and an administration, and I will be able to share more information in the not-too-distant future,” Smith maintained. “We appreciate the voices and advocacy of community members for this topic and any topic and welcome conversations including across our community.”

Carleton, subsequently contacted by this newspaper, responded that while some state aid to the district will continue to be cut under Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s 2022-23 proposed budget, local schools would still be receiving more money this year than originally anticipated.

Additionally, “other districts have had See TUITION/ Page 13

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ENROLLMENT (Continued from Page 7)

is a “different property tax and costs.”

“T hey have more money,” Havers maintained. “Their taxes are way higher than our tax rate. They are able to offer more because they charge a lot more in taxes.”

Lowery noted that the superintendent “is right” about there being a higher tax rate for Seneca’s sending municipalities.

“But, we can start right here!” she added “… Sometimes it isn’t about the money. We have to promote it from the ground up.”

Lowery called on the Pemberton board to be “active” and reach out to the police departments and its serving municipalities to establish “connections,” pointing to Camden County schools doing the same and having success.

“We need to find creative ways because we already know we don’t have any money,” she declared. “Come on now, we don’t have any money!”

Havers, in response, maintained “we are trying to build that connection,” pointing to efforts of having police officers come in to visit Pemberton schools during Police Week as well as a video that was just done with the Pemberton Township’s police chief on the dangers of vaping.

Scull, in appearing to respond to Haver’s remarks about those living in Seneca’s area paying higher taxes, noted that her son (and his significant other) are now living “in a different township” because of “what I described earlier over and over,” even though he is “paying double the amount of money” in property taxes.

“But they didn’t want their son at the (Pemberton Township) high school,” she said.

“And they are both graduates of the high school.”

She added that there are “plenty of people” who live in Pemberton that “have

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 9

good incomes.”

Pember ton School Board Member Lionel Lee, a former corrections officer and Pemberton district basketball coach, in returning to the revelation from Smith that he wanted to cut middle school athletics, but that Giannetti wouldn’t let him, expressed that he was “glad Mrs. Giannetti disagreed with that.”

“Because one of the main promoters of your district is athletics,” said Lee of why he was glad Giannetti intervened. “I am a coach, and I am going to get up on this soap box: we are lacking in facilities for athletics. A lot of kids just don’t leave here for Woodshop or Welding; they leave here because they want to play football at Lenape or basketball at RV (Rancocas Valley) because of our facilities (lacking).”

Lee pointed out that Pemberton is one of the “few districts in South Jersey” without stadium lighting at it athletic fields, for example. He noted that when lights were recently rented by the district for a sports game on one of its athletic fields, “guess what, the place sold out.”

“So, there are ways that we can promote our district,” Lee declared. “And a lot of stuff is driven by athletics. A lot of coaches hear, ‘I’m going to go to RV,’ or ‘I’m going to transfer here or there.’ “… We really need to promote athletics because that is what drives parents (to come here), and gets people into your schools to see your facilities and see how nice things are.

The most people who come in and out of these buildings are here for games and athletic events – especially those from other schools.

And we would like to have adequate athletic facilities that match and mirror just about any other school in this particular area.”

Tom Bauer, board president, concluded that he believed both Lowery and Scull have “woken us up tonight” to some of the things the Pemberton district needs to work towards.

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CONTROVERSY (Continued from Page 2)

newspaper that morning for a second time, he has been told by Watson that “he’s mailing it out.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that Medford Township had been accused by the Carns of taking steps to shut down the Carns’ firewood stand, with the Carns faulting the mayor for that decision. A law had been in place that made such wood stands illegal.

Then, the Medford Council had proposed a tree ordinance limiting tree removal in the township, with the Carns brothers vocal in their overall opposition to the measure, citing what had happened to them in the past and their fears of it bringing about potential private property rights infringements. It also contained a provision meant to allow firewood stands, but that was interpreted by them to mean that any firewood sold at a wood stand had to be harvested from their own property, versus brought in from a tree job, essentially curbing the ability for their firewood stand to open legally. The law, following packed meetings, passed.

After fierce controversy, and ahead of a November 2021 election, Watson had led his council colleagues to take action to make wood stands legal. Following passage of a measure to do so, as well as another that legalized farm stands (which the Carns also have), Watson and the Carns were pictured celebrating the moment.

“The mayor had our firewood stand shutdown, then had a law passed that allowed us to open it, and you buy firewood from us and then don’t pay us and stiffs us?” asked David Carns in expressing his disbelief with the situation in the March 22 interview with this newspaper.

David Carns explained to this newspaper that he traditionally does not deliver firewood to any of his customers, but had made one of “very few exceptions” for the mayor given that he had helped his family out in allowing their firewood stand to be opened.

Payment, he noted, for his firewood is due upon receipt, but that after being asked by Watson to pull around back on his property and deliver the firewood that he purchased, the mayor told him that he had ‘to go’ and would ‘square up in the next couple of days.’

That account seemed to be corroborated

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM in a text message to David Carns, from Watson, provided to this newspaper. After David Carns informs Watson that he is “on my way,” the mayor replies, “Okay Dave. I’m moving my truck and the cans now and then I have to bolt. I have two meetings end (sic) on a council meeting.”

“I’ll catch up with you in the next couple of days and get you paid,” Watson added in the text message.

On Jan. 30, David Carns text messages Watson, asking, “When can we catch up for payment?”

“I’ll drop off this week,” Watson replied.

“Been crazy busy, sorry.”

But that apparently never happened either, with Watson on Feb. 7 writing again to David Carns, “I didn’t forget you my friend.”

“Life has mor (sic) than just been a little hectic; I’ll get it over soon,” Watson wrote.

After David Carns replies “there is no rush” and “plus I know where you live,” Watson writes back to the resident, “Yes you do, but it’s very much unlike me so I apologize.”

On Feb. 11, David Carns, still apparently not in receipt of payment, then advises the Medford mayor that he can just drop the check in the mail.

“I’m sorry, I will either have my wife write a check today or get the cash,” Watson replies.

“I just haven’t had the time to go to the bank.”

Watson then explains to David Carns that, “I just have had a lot going on personally, professionally and (sic) the township.”

The mayor added for David Carns to call him.

According to David Carns in the March 22 interview with this newspaper, Feb. 11 is the last he had heard from the Medford mayor about paying for the firewood. And he still is without payment, he contended, despite even informing the mayor that he could drop off the payment in a cash drop box at the firewood stand.

David Carns recounted to this newspaper a council session when Watson had stated publicly that he wanted to be informed of any actions taken by the township regarding the Carns Family Farm, given that both David and Brian Carns voiced their displeasure with what had happened to them and expressed concern more incidents would occur.

“He was supposed to be notified of any issues,” David Carns said.

On “this past Friday morning,” March 18, two men claiming to be from the township Tax Assessor’s Office, pulled up to his farm

Photo Provided

Text messages between firewood stand co-owner David Carns and Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson revealing that the former tried multiple times over a several week period to collect money owed for delivered firewood.

Saturday, March 26, 2022

Photo Provided

A barn on the Carns Family Farm that is the subject of a controversy after being deemed by Medford Township as an “unsafe structure.” in a “Gray Ford 500,” according to David Carns.

Initially, another relative (unnamed), David Carns described, had purportedly encountered the two men and asked what they were doing on the property.

During the course of that apparent discussion, the relative, according to David Carns, was advised they “were sent by Beth Portocalis,” Medford’s Zoning Official and Open Space Coordinator, who also oversees the township code enforcement office.

That relative, David Carns recounted to this newspaper, then called him, and with him being “at the Wawa just down the street,” he quickly arrived on scene to find them “up front” on the farm. “‘We got a report of a dilapidated barn on your property and we are here to just take a look at it,’” David Carns further recounted of what the two men replied when he asked what they were doing on the property. “‘We might be able to remove it from the tax map.’

That is what they told me.”

The barn is not visible from the road, explained David Carns, and one must take a dirt lane back to it.

David Carns pointed out that the reason for the two men coming out to the property struck him as odd, particularly given that nobody in his family reportedly called for them. “‘Well, why would you do that?’” David Carns said he asked the men, telling them he didn’t believe any money would be saved because the barn is located on a property that is farmland assessed. “It sounded a bit strange. I asked them, ‘Why would you be here about a delipidated building?”

But David Carns said that he agreed to take the men to see the barn “wanting to be nice”

and since they did not present themselves as a “building inspector” or “zoning officials.”

“I didn’t think they would be a threat,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, why would they be a threat?’”

Upon the men moving to leave the Carns’ premises, David Carns said he exchanged his cellphone number with them. David Carns told this newspaper that he then called the mayor, who “had always picked up the phone” previously, but this time, he contended, there was no answer. He maintained the mayor had to have some advance knowledge of what was occurring given his past public statement.

It was on Monday morning, March 21, that David Carns, co-owner of Cornerstone Tree Service, said he was removing trees on a private property in the Sherwood Forest development in the municipality.

Under the local tree ordinance that had been passed, any dead or diseased trees “or trees that can be within striking distance of the house” can be removed without a permit. Additionally, township council had previously said on the record that when it comes to creating a defensible space for wildfire danger, trees can be removed without a permit, though there had been concerns that the leniency the governing body verbally expressed wasn’t actually reflected in the ordinance that would otherwise require a permit for any tree removal.

Council had also previously assured residents that all that would be needed if a job was challenged was some photographs or documentation from a licensed Certified Tree Expert indicating there was a hazard being posed in causing trees to be removed, and that they would take a conservative approach to any potential concerns.

See CONTROVERSY/ Page 11

Photo Provided

A photograph appearing to show a Medford zoning official along with another unidentified woman entering a private property in Sherwood Forest and approaching tree service co-owner David Carns and the private property owner, allegedly over a charge of wetlands being clear-cut.

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A ‘Notice Of Unsafe Structure’ sent to the owner of Carns Family Farm ordering her to remove a barn on the “same day” that the letter was mailed.

CONTROVERSY (Continued from Page 10)

“They were supposed to send a letter out, not run up on the property,” David Carns declared.

David Carns told this newspaper that he was just finishing up the tree job and talking with his customer, when Portocalis and another unidentified woman accompanying her came up from behind, unannounced.

The tree service co-owner described to this newspaper that he was “startled” by their walking up from behind, and contended that Portocalis never introduced herself, nor did she first knock at the property owner’s door before coming onto the private property.

Instead, David Carns contended, they crossed past the front of the private property owner’s property line to confront him.

Still photographs of the incident obtained by this newspaper show two women, one appearing to be Portocalis, walking up on David Carns and the private property owner, with both women apparently not wearing any safety vests or other safety gear. The woman appearing to be Portocalis held a piece of paper in her hands, which David Carns described as an application for a tree removal permit that the zoning official demanded he complete.

“And they just don’t confront me, she (Portocalis) raises her voice and says, ‘You just clear-cut wetlands! You just clear-cut wetlands!’”

David Carns maintained that both he and his customer were “intimidated” by the manner in which they were approached.

“He (the private property owner) was very quiet, nervous and didn’t know what to do,” David Carns recounted. “I was trying to handle everything for him, because he was originally from China, and I said, ‘This isn’t

wetlands.’”

But Portocalis insisted it was, David Carns said, and that “the whole development” of Sherwood Forest “is wetlands.”

According to the local tree ordinance, no permit for removing trees can be issued for wetlands, without the approval of several state agencies, including the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and Pinelands Commission.

“This can’t be wetlands,” David Carns maintained. “I am well aware of wetlands in the Sherwood development, but I don’t believe this area is wetlands.”

But the nature of the encounter with the township zoning official and the woman who apparently accompanied her, David Carns said, “left him shocked” and “kind of feeling zapped” to the point “he wasn’t sure” if what Portocalis was telling him was indeed true. At one point, David Carns contended, he tried to leave the scene, and said, “‘the next tree job I have is in another town,” and “one of them said, ‘Don’t tell us where you are going.’”

With the customer being present, David Carns said the only thing on his mind was to avoid a “further unprofessional scene” and “bow down a little bit.”

“The customer then says, ‘I don’t understand, I have lived here for 27 years and I have never known my backyard to be wetlands,’” David Carns recounted.

The tree service co-owner said since the incident he has asked Portocalis numerous times to prove to him he cleared trees in wetlands, but that, so far, she “provided only a Pinelands map” as well as sent an email “with the Medford tree ordinance.”

“Pinelands, I believe, is different than what New Jersey wetlands are,” David Carns said.

“I looked up wetlands areas on the National Wetlands inventory and it doesn’t show any wetlands in that area. Several streets over it does, however.”

See CONTROVERSY/ Page 15

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(Continued from Page 9) their state aid cut as well; however, they have managed to accomplish full-day free kindergarten,” she pointed out.

The competitive disadvantage that an abbreviated kindergarten schedule poses for pupils first entering public school as well as their parents was also attested to at the council meeting by Jill Mink, a former elementary-school educator whose classroom she said Oprah Winfrey had once visited as an observer, and who described the quandary that the choice posed for her family when her own daughter entered kindergarten.

“Speaking with her teacher, it was always that there was never enough time to implement the creative or play-based activities she wanted to because she was so busy trying to meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum in 2.5 hours,” Mink recalled.

As a result, she said, after a month, it had become abundantly clear that the morning

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session was inadequate preparation for a regular classroom routine, as well as to provide social interaction with peers.

“However, there was one problem – we didn’t have $5,500 lying around,” she said. “But because this was a priority, we rebudgeted, reached out to family, canceled a vacation and made a lot of other sacrifices to ensure we would have the money to send her.”

But those are options, she pointed out, that aren’t available to a lot of other families.

“If you don’t have $5,500,” she asserted, quoting from a promotional blurb for the full-day session, “your child is not entitled to opportunities for extended early reading and math content.”

“They don’t get time in the day to engage with peers in social settings and develop social skills, or for individualized and smallgroup instruction,” Mink added.

Also curtailed are creative outlets, such as longer art classes, she noted, as are “the opportunities to learn the routines of school and develop good social and behavioral skills” and to become accustomed to a full day’s classroom routine, as compared to

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peers from more affluent circumstances.

“Certainly, we can place educational equity among our youngest learners as a top educational priority,” Mink added.

At the conclusion of the session, Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper and two other memb ers of the cou nci l, Gi namar ie Espinoza and Patricia Hansen, all advocated the change being sought by the parents who spoke at the public comment session.

“I a m t o o a v i c t i m of h a l f- d ay kindergarten,” Cooper declared. “My kids are older, but it definitely is something that impacted our life and we had to make adjustments. So, I acknowledge you, I hear you and I make the commitment as an elected official that has access to other state officials to write a letter, to go with you to Trenton, whatever you guys need.”

Espinosa told the speakers they were “100 percent right,” maintaining that “here in Evesham we take pride in all the facilities we provide,” and that “full-day kindergarten is a service we can be proud of as well.”

“It will take some tough choices, but we have seen our school district do this before

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and we can see them do it again,” she declared.

Saying she concurred with Espinosa, Hansen admitted to being someone who had no idea that kindergarten didn’t go on the entire day for all pupils and said she had wondered “why I see them so often outside.”

“I hope the school board finds the money for this, seeing that we have the best school district here,” Hansen said. “But it should start in kindergarten.”

According to a letter to Evesham parents from the school district, which can be accessed on the Internet, “the full-day kindergarten curriculum aligns to that which is currently offered in our half-day program; however, it extends early reading and math concepts, language development, fine and gross motor skills, related arts and social skills into a complete full-day academic program.”

In addition, a page at the district’s website notes that “parents can choose to make payments in one, two, or three installments” and advises any family to which “the threeinstallment schedule presents a financial hardship” to contact the curriculum office regarding a modified payment schedule.

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(Continued from Page 8) “I would say, if I was betting, it (the number of job losses) is not going to be zero a year from now,” Smith asserted. “It is going to be pretty significant.”

In addition to receiving ESSER III funding, the Pemberton district got ESSER II funding, which Smith noted is currently paying for “extended Jr. Hive Services” (student support services) as well as “summer school and enrichment.” The ESSER II funding “will expire,” according to Smith, on Sept. 30, 2023, and “will be exhausted” on June 30, 2023, with the ESSER III funding also allocated for those particular programs.

“I want to be clear – we have taken those items out of the general budget and put them into our ESSER federal funds, and when those run out, those services and personnel items also disappear with that funding,” Smith declared. “They will not go back into the General Fund budget.”

T he Pe mb er ton d ist r ict ha s b e e n experiencing a student mental health and behavioral “crisis” since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, however, as previously reported by this newspaper.

“The ‘Jr. Hive Services’ – are we really looking to eliminate something that our kids are in need of right at this moment?” asked Pemberton School Board Member Terry Maldonado, head of the public body’s policy committee, on March 17 in response to Smith’s revelation.

The business administrator, in reply, shifted away from making it a certainty that such programs would never return to the General Fund, saying, “That was our initial plan.”

“We had a big conversation between Mr. Havers, myself and Mrs. Giannetti about how do we maintain a service like that past (the exhaustion and expiration of) ESSER III (funds),” Smith added. “… We are willing to look at that, and if we can fit it into to the General Fund budget, we will.

“Just because we are putting it there (in ESSER funding), doesn’t mean it is gone. But if it gets put back into the General (Fund), obviously something has to get cut for it. But we do have time to discuss and think about that.”

Maldonado, in inquiring about Smith’s remark about the Pemberton district’s summer enrichment program, prompted the business administrator to recognize that there had been “long discussions” about the future of that program as well.

Sm ith also again contradicted h is reiteration from moments before by asserting, “Just because we put it there (in ESSER funding), doesn’t mean it gets cut.”

But then, moments later, he returned to his initial position by declaring, “As of right now, the plan is, after the summer of 2024, there would be no summer programs after that

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point,” adding that if there is any extension of such programs, it would be reliant on the district getting additional funds, perhaps federal monies. However, he indicated the prospect of additional funding is unlikely.

“There is a benefit to students,” Smith said. “But we have to, at some point, decide on what we can live without, what we desperately need and what would kind of be the luxury to have.”

Smith’s initial position, that he ultimately returned to both during the course of the March 17 Pemberton school board meeting and during the March 21 Pemberton Borough Council session, that the Pemberton district’s summer school and enrichment program will be “eliminated,” also drew questions and apparent concern from Pemberton School Board Member Sheri Lowery.

“When I moved to Pemberton, I came because of that summer program – I loved it,” Lowery declared. “If my kid doesn’t get enrichment, my kid then falls back, the teachers (also) struggle and then it becomes a behavior issue.

“And guess what, as a military person, I’m moving my kid.”

Lowery, who in the beginning of the year voted against the status-quo in trying to bring change to the Pemberton school board leadership, and since then, has made several suggestions that have seemingly challenged the district administration’s direction on several key issues, asserted on March 17, “We have to find a way to be creative,” from the “top, down” while underscoring the importance of having such programs to “market our town” and its school system.

“Therefore, you can’t ‘cut’ everything,” Lowery maintained. “… You’ve got to be more creative. We need to come up with ideas on how we are going to restructure.

It’s a domino-effect.”

Lowery’s point brought about a larger Pemberton school board and administration discussion about the loss of military families in the district, and a decline in enrollment due to not only the loss of programming and cuts (see separate story), but a COVID shutdown decision.

“Listen, I agree,” said Havers in response to Lowery. “We don’t want to cut any of this. I want to keep it too. But the reality is, we have 10 tables here, and we want to keep all 10 tables.

But we can’t. We have to cut two tables. And if we don’t cut two here, we have to cut two over there. We are worried about next year, but there is the year after that, and the year after that, and the need is still going to be there.”

Maldonado, du r i ng the March 17 Pemberton school board session, also inquired about the cutting of kindergarten aides, asking for clarification as to when they would no longer be employed.

Smith responded that there is only enough money to keep them on the district payroll “next year.”

“How many are near retirement?”

Maldonado asked. “How many won’t make retirement qualifications because of eliminating those positions. And will they be offered a job somewhere in the district to get to the retirement stage?”

Smith replied it is “hard to say on the surface” and that one “has to look at seniority” because “it is based on seniority.”

The anticipated cutting of kindergarten aides in the Pemberton district has been a controversial topic since the beginning of the school year when the plan apparently leaked out to a staffer while showing up for a school board session. Havers and his administrative team have faced mounting pressure since that session to find ways to preserve the kindergarten aides, especially given the recognized impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on student academics as well as their social and emotional health.

At a preceding Feb. 24 Pemberton school board meeting, Havers pointed to “board training from the fall” in regard to the budget, maintaining “the board decides how much, but it up to the administration to determine how that money is spent and where the money goes.”

“OK, but I saw somewhere (in state statute) that the board has a responsibility to let the administration know how the community feels about certain areas!” declared Board Member Sherry Scull in response. “Well, I am going to speak up about one of the areas right now, and that is the cut of the kindergarten aide positions that we talked about. The community, I believe – I have not heard one person say they are in favor of that.”

Scull pointed out that “most of our kindergarten teachers” have “not been without an aide before.”

“For the best interests of the kids, we need to really look at that before it is totally cut,” Scull asserted.

Havers responded that he “doesn’t want to do any of this” and that he would “keep advocating for more funding.”

“If we don’t get more money, if it is not kindergarten aides, it is something else,” Havers maintained. “And that’s not good.”

Havers, in appearing before Pemberton Borough Council on March 21 to discuss the proposed budget for the upcoming school year, in explaining the reason for the district administration recommending the layoffs of the kindergarten aides beyond year 2022-23 school year, said, “half of the schools in the county have them, and half don’t.”

He also warned that because of the “federal (relief) dollars” currently supporting some things in the district’s proposed budget, it is presenting “a false positive” and because of it ultimately “going away,” there is “some pain we are not yet seeing.” Smith added that “90 percent” of the reductions anticipated in the 2023-24 school year budget would be “salary related.”

“Sadly, we’ve gone to the state over the last

few years and the reaction has been, ‘Well just increase taxes,” said Smith the Pemberton Borough Council. “Well, that is one of the struggles we have – how do we cut the budget, and still try to meet the mandates (as a School Development Authority [SDA] district) we are required to meet and are audited on annually as we move forward?”

Smith, in a PowerPoint presentation shown to the Pemberton Borough Council, acknowledged there would be “forced violations of the NJSA” in the future with Havers calling a purported suggestion by the state for the Pemberton district to “increase its budget” (through the local tax levy) by 36 percent last year “just insane,” pointing out that the same suggestion was made for this year to raise it by 27 percent.

“When I talk to the state – whenever I meet with Senator (Jean) Stanfield and different congressmen – when we advocate, people always say, ‘You are an SDA (district), you are not paying enough,’ and I always keep hammering home the point, ‘We are raising taxes 9 percent a year. What else do you want us to do?’”

Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s press office, in releasing the governor’s preliminary Fiscal Year 2023 “budget plan,” emailed media outlets statewide, including this newspaper, a statement regarding the education funding, which pointed out the proposed state budget allocates “nearly $19.2 billion to support New Jersey schools,” maintaining that the school funding formula “fully-funds” the state’s public schools.

It was noted in the statement that the budget proposal will “support” learning acceleration, climate-change education, and expanded pre-K through an “infusion” of an additional $650 million in K-12 school aid and nearly $68 million in additional preschool funding.

“The Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal continues the seven-year phase-in to fully funding New Jersey’s school funding formula,” the statement continues. “This transition was required in a 2018 law, S-2, designed to address inequities that had resulted from years of overfunding some districts while failing to adequately meet the needs of other growing districts. By adding $649.8 million in K-12 formula aid, the governor is proposing to make the full scheduled phase-in for Fiscal Year 2023.

“The Governor’s budget also includes $20 million in Stabilization Aid to provide onetime assistance for school districts facing fiscal challenges. When the transition to full funding is complete, all school districts will be funded as envisioned in the state’s schoolfunding formula: based on student enrollment and community factors. For some of the most vulnerable students in New Jersey schools, the budget includes a total of $400 million to support Extraordinary Special Education aid.”

Saturday, March 26, 2022

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CONTROVERSY (Continued from Page 11)

Nevertheless, David Carns called the encounter “unprofessional” and is left with questions of what was behind the visit, in combination with the other actions. The tree service co-owner provided to this newspaper some 11 photographs of the trees he removed, most of which have obvious signs of decay or death, including one with a tree trunk “hollow inside,” and several others with holes from Southern Pine Beatles. Another shows a pine tree with peeling bark.

Portocalis, he maintained, after being shown one photograph initially, decried that it only showed one tree, and then upon being shown more photographs, kept insisting that he impacted wetlands.

“And when she raised her voice, it startled me,” said David Carns of the incident. “The last person I was expecting to see was her. It would have been different if she pulled up, but she surprised me, I got to tell you! She didn’t say, ‘Hi, I am Beth Portocalis from the Zoning Office.’ She just started raising her voice, ‘You clear-cut wetlands!’”

David Carns contended that Portocalis became so angry in confronting him that her face was bright red.

“I was dumbfounded,” he maintained. “I cut wetlands? I was like, ‘No-way! No-way!’”

Later that same day, David Carns said he noticed a number of missed calls from his mother.

After calling his mother, Carolyn, back, “who was sobbing,” David Carns said, he learned that she had just received a “Notice of Unsafe Structure” from the municipality declaring that the barn on the Carns Family Farm was an “unsafe structure” and had to be removed “that same day.”

Normally, municipalities, in issuing any notice of an unsafe structure, provide some time to property owners to abate a violation or have a structure removed.

The notice, signed by the township’s Code Enforcement Officer, Richard Falasco, with a “notice date of 3/17/2022” says that the township is ordering the removal of the barn “by 3/17/2022,” though it says the issue can be corrected “by 4/7/2022.”

The letter claimed an “inspection” of the barn was done on “3/16/2022,” though David Carns said nobody from the municipality was seen on the property before the March 18 incident with the two township tax assessors.

A postmarking on the envelope (also provided to this newspaper) indicates the date of the Certified Mail mailing was March 18.

Brian Carns, though he recognized that the barn is in “bad shape,” told this newspaper in an interview as well, that the building is an historical one, built some 250 years ago by the English Settlers. He described that the barn has sentimental value to the family and “is not bothering anybody.” David Carns

pointed out that two quotes were sought to fix the barn and came in around $20,000, which the family cannot currently afford.

The barn incident was the “breaking point” in which the Carns said they decided to break their silence, and in doing so, David Carns pointed out that when Watson was campaigning for re-election he even “put 20 signs out for him,” including on his property, despite at one time threatening to primary the mayor over the firewood and tree ordinance controversy. David Carns said the mayor had earned their support for allowing firewood and farm stands and that this isn’t an issue of being a liberal versus a Republican because he is a supporter of the GOP, the party from which the mayor represents.

While the Carns didn’t reveal the other two township actions involving their family in online social media posts, as well as the unresolved firewood dispute with the mayor, they did post about the Notice of Unsafe Structure regarding the barn.

“Just when we thought the farm had a real future and will be protected here in Medford, we receive these threatening letters,” Brian Carns wrote. “The barn is over 200 years old and is considered virgin cut wood and our plans are to rebuild it. One complaint comes through from our crappy neighbor and now Medford Township sent us this. We will never remove it and I will use these letters to start a nice fire in my stove. Please Medford officials stop taking bs complaints from Karen’s. Barn will stay as it sits until we have money to fix it.

It is on our private property and not near any homes. Plus, it’s my cat sanctuary…. Meow.”

Medford officials were subsequently slammed by Medford residents and other members of the public with one of the posts in a Facebook group “Medford 08055” soliciting more than 200 comments.

“Does this guy have some clout with the township or something?” one woman asked.

“Or are you guys just targets? Because I’ve seen derelict buildings all the time on private property as long as they’re not the main living quarters (or doesn’t this apply to Medford?)

And besides that, wouldn’t that awesome old barn be considered historic? And if it isn’t, it should be considering how old the farm is. And isn’t there such a thing as being ‘grandfathered in’ as far as modern codes, violations, etc.?

“I just don’t see what the problem is! Grrr.

Sorry for the rant, but I am sick and tired of the disregard for fabulous old buildings and the memories they hold and things they have seen.”

Another man posted that there had been a house on Main Street in Medford that purportedly was “condemned and dilapidated for over 10 years,” but yet it had never been torn down and is now being renovated.

“You have a HISTORIC Barn post and beam construction that needs a new roof and siding,” he wrote. “The post and beam framing is in great shape.”

That man also pointed to a structure the township currently owns that he contended is

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Photo Provided

Some of the trees that tree service co-owner David Carns says he removed on a private property at issue that had obvious signs of disease and death. “dilapidated,” as well as another “right in front of the police station” that is “rotting away.”

“Your property is posted NO Trespassing,” the man pointed out. “Looks like this inspector had no right to go that far on your property. They also overstepped their authority by demanding the building to be demolished in one day. It took the township over a year to resolve a fence issue of a mayor of Medford. Maybe you should run for Medford council. In any event, the inspector has overstepped his authority.”

Others agreed, with one writing that those who stepped foot on the Carns’ property should be given a ticket for trespassing.

Another woman, in a scathing rebuke of what had occurred with the barn, wrote, “‘Welcome to Historic Medford Township,’ isn’t that what the sign says as you enter? So, let’s take some of the historic out of it, that makes sense.”

“Medford residents, recently the Carns family assisted the Union Fire Company with a large tree removal at no cost to our organization,” wrote another person. “They used their crew and equipment, which isn’t cheap, and did an excellent job. Maybe Medford Township should appreciate what they do for our community and be thankful for their services.”

David Carns, in discussing how he and his family try to better their community, told this newspaper that he had even extended that same courtesy to the Medford mayor, noting he normally charges between $250 to $300 for a single cord of firewood, but had made a deal with Watson to only charge him $450 for two cords of seasoned oak.

He told this newspaper he would like an action to be taken against Portocalis, relief for their barn and his message to the mayor, “pay your bills dude” because “people work hard for their money.”

Watson, in the email to this newspaper, said he has “very little to comment on related

to the recent events at the Carns farm.”

“As I’m sure you are aware, elected officials in our form of government do not participate in the day to day operations of our town, so I am not aware of everything our employees do,” Watson wrote. “In addition, it would be illegal for me to give any direction to our zoning or sub-code officials or meddle in any way with them performing their jobs. That being said, I have requested information just so that I am aware of what happened at the farm.”

The Carns told this newspaper that Watson had told them he would “look into it” when asked about the barn situation.

Tax Assessor Joe Rahman did not respond to requests for comment on this story by this newspaper’s deadline time. Portocalis described that she had a full schedule, but asked that this newspaper email any questions and that she would do her best to respond. This newspaper, which originally sought a telephone interview with Portocalis, and implored officials to tell their side of the story through telephone interviews, emailed numerous tough questions given the nature of the charges in this story, but received a response from Township Manager Kathy Burger that the “township” would not be responding due to their “tone” and “tenure.”

According to the copy of the Notice of Unsafe Structure provided to this newspaper, “failure to correct the unsafe condition or refusal to comply” will result “in this matter being forwarded to legal counsel for prosecution” against Carolyn Carns and an “assessment of penalties of up to $2,000 per week, per violation.” If the Carns decide to “contest this order,” they have 15 days to do so by requesting a hearing before the “Construction Board of Appeals of the Burlington Construction Board of Appeals” as well as providing it with a $100 fee.

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Saturday, March 26, 2022