OPINIONS & COMMENTARY E ditorial School Security Upgrades Should Be Outside Spending Cap

Back during the Chris Christie administration, working with Democrat-led lawmakers, he instituted a law that limited tax increases by schools and municipalities to 2 percent. The law itself is way more complicated than that – because of course it is – but that’s the gist of it. Christie and the lawmakers never considered that fuel and other costs would increase by more than 2 percent. They were just looking at ways to cut costs for taxpayers and didn’t think of the big picture. If you think our taxes are high now, imagine how much higher they would be without the cap. So, the law did what it was designed to do, but put the burden on districts to decide what to cut in order to come in under the cap.

Christie was governor from 2010 to 2018. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (part of the U.S. Department of Education), there were about 400 shootings that took place in schools across the country during these years. Approximately 40% of those had no casualties, but that doesn’t make the number more palatable. My point is that the governor and lawmakers should’ve known that school security was and always will be a necessity.

School districts have partnered with towns to hire school resource officers and have regular patrols. They’ve upgraded their PA and security systems. Some have reconstructed entrance vestibules. They’ve covered the windows with shatter-resistant film. All of this was done to prevent someone from attacking the school or mitigating the damage if they got in. And all of it costs money.

Some schools have used federal relief aid to pay for this. Some are splitting the cost of an officer between

GOP Spread Lies About Offshore Wind To Protect Big Oil Companies

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the school and the town. They’ve gotten creative on how to pay for these needed security measures.

A school district shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to figure out how to protect their kids.

One of our legislators should write a bill that places any school security upgrade outside the 2 percent cap. This could be an increase in security personnel. It could also be any number of capital projects such as doors, cameras, overhead loudspeakers, impact-resistant coating on windows, security vestibules, and more. The bill would have to be specific as to what it applies so that it can be clear to school business administrators.

Will it make budget calculations more complicated?

Yes. But it’s to help schools for a change. Besides, people in the finance department do math all day long.

They love math.

I’d even go so far as to say that towns should be allowed to remove their police department from the limits of the 2 percent cap. That, however, might get sticky. One of the unwritten “benefits” of the 2 percent cap was that towns and schools had a hammer they could wield during contract negotiations. “I’m sorry, we can’t give raises more than 2%. State law.”

So, let’s stick to just school security. I’m going to be reaching out to the lawmakers I know to see if they’d be interested in sponsoring this proposed legislation.

The 2 percent cap was the state’s solution to limiting tax hikes on a local level. While it serves a purpose, this is a situation where it has caused a problem.

Don’t penalize school districts for doing the right thing.

Chris Lundy News Editor

TRENTON – The following statement is from members of the New Jersey Wind Works Coalition, in response to the New Jersey state Senate Republican independent hearing on offshore wind.

“It is disappointing, but not surprising, that New Jersey Senate Republicans are continuing to spread lies about offshore wind with the hopes of delaying progress and continuing our dependence on fossil fuels. The anti-wind campaign is anti-environment and anti-wildlife. Developing New Jersey’s offshore wind industry will create union jobs, generate economic prosperity in communities across our state, and is essential to fighting climate change, which is the number one threat facing marine life. After significant investigation, our nation’s top scientists have stated there is no evidence that offshore wind is causing the deaths of marine mammals. We know for a fact that warming oceans are threatening entire ecosystems.

“Here’s what elected leaders who really care about protecting the oceans should be doing, and the environmental criteria for pro-marine life politicians: slowing down boats, removing abandoned fishing gear, reducing plastic pollution, and combating climate change, the greatest threat to our oceans.

“It is time to stop playing politics with our oceans, listen to the scientists, and get on board with a clean energy future, which will protect wildlife for New Jersey.”

The New Jersey Wind Works Coalition is a group of environmental advocates who support the responsible development of offshore wind.

New Jersey Wind Works Coalition Members: New Jersey LCV, NJ Audubon, Waterspirit, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, ANJEC, NJ Sustainable Business Council, UU Faith Action, Sierra Club NJ, New Jersey Environmental Lobby, Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, Anglers for Offshore Wind, GreenFaith, Great Egg Harbor River Council Association.

New Jersey League of Conservation Voters running for mayor in the (June 6) primary, Mo is the only one who knows our town and its people. care in the United States. I believe that lack of healthcare coverage was brought to light during the COVID period but it appears that it is no longer discussed as to what needs to be corrected.

Mo knows how to get things done. He has consistently fought Trenton for us and has our best interests in heart. That’s not to say I agree with everything he’s done 100%. For example, he likes Trump and I don’t. But I have much more in common with him than with any of the other three. They only care about themselves. Mo cares about us.

Do you think (Councilman Daniel) Rodrick would be able to make a well planned and executed argument to the DEP about Ciba-Geigy? He doesn’t even understand how a town works. Every meeting he’s caught with his pants down because he clearly doesn’t know what’s going on. He sounds like a kid who showed up to class without his homework.

Do you think (Geri) Ambrosio will do anything for us? No, she’s just going to make her boss George Gilmore the new town attorney, and give her friends jobs. She has no experience doing things for other people – unless there’s something in it for her.

Mayor Hill will have my vote in the primary and in the final election in November. While there are four different Republicans

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I can’t remember the name of the fourth Republican running for mayor and I’m not going to bother looking it up.

Mo Hill cut ties with Gilmore’s corrupt party, and it was the best choice ever. Mo has no boss except the people of Toms River.

Ron David Toms River

American Health Expense Is Unaffordable

Your editorial “One Day, You’ll Be Sick” (March 25th edition) made a very good point on human wellness and the cost of health -

Having worked in hospitals and a health clinic over 40 years, I have seen the problems with our system. It is complicated and needs fixing but our elected officials in Washington are not willing to act. I started working in the financial office of a hospital as an accountant when Medicare was passed and went on to becoming a CFO in small hospitals. The system has grown and the costs have become impossible for the average American family to bear. A family of four could not afford to pay the full insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles based on average income. Only with the employer paying part or a good portion of the premium is a family able to carry healthcare insurance today. What I have explain thus far only covers acute care but then as the population gets older, we are exposed to the many long term illnesses that are not covered by acute care insurance and will put a family’s financial position in serious trouble. We not only have to deal with health problems but how we can pay for it. As our populations grows older, it becomes a more significant factor on how do we meet these costs. Trying to save for it is difficult, as we try to save to meet our general expense needs in retirement years.

If we don’t act soon, we will be forced into a universal system in order to continue delivering care to all. It will become impossible for the average person to cover healthcare needs. Oh! What I failed to mention is that healthcare is not guaranteed in this country.

Lee Amato Lakewood