Oceanport BOE: Feasibility Study a Waste of Time and Money

The "long awaited" feasibility study commissioned by the Oceanport Board of Education to examine shared services opportunities with West Long Branch, Monmouth Beach and was met with consternation by members at the May 10 meeting.

"I think we were looking for things we hadn't considered," said Oceanport Board of Education President Colin Soyer about the report that concluded that and Monmouth Beach were "less viable candidates for shared administrative services."

"There were no eye-openers here," Soyer said, noting that most of the findings were "obvious."

"We're back at square-one," he added.

The four school districts entered into an agreement with Puleio & Strimple Associates in January to conduct a study to advise their boards of future options for providing administrative services. Openings at two of the schools, combined with decreased aid and a down economy prompted the school boards to go ahead with the study in hopes of saving money and moving toward regionalization of some services.

As West Long Branch and Shore Regional both have interim superintendents, the report concluded that they enter a shared service arrangement for that position. The feasibility study also recommended those two districts share a business administrator and director of special services since they are in the same town and students move to the high school.

Soyer expressed concern that Oceanport tax payers would "subsidize" West Long Branch's superintendent as a portion of their tax bill goes to the high school.

As for Oceanport and Monmouth Beach, the report concludes that they "pursue sharing administrative positions as the opportunity presents itself" since they both have sitting superintendents and business administrators.

"This says nothing we didn't already know," said board member Kelly McGowan, who served on the shared services committee and helped spearhead the feasibility report. "We knew what our needs were and were counting on professionals (to provide answers)."

McGowan also expressed surprise that the West Long Branch Board of Education had already discussed the report at a public meeting and posted it on their district Web site "as if it were written in stone."

She said she had been under the impression that officials from the four districts would come together to discuss the report, which was released May 1, as a group that would also allow consultants to explain their findings.

The district has yet to pay its approximately $3,000 portion of the consultants' fee for the study.

School Superintendent Andrew Orefice said of Shore and West Long Branch's possible pairing, "Our 'dance partners' are moving off in different directions without us."

Board member William McVitty was more direct in his assessment of the situation. "We paid taxpayer money to get this piece of garbage, " he said, holding up the 43-page report. "I could have done it and I would have done it for free."

The Oceanport Board of Education meets again Thursday, May 17 in the Library at 7 p.m.