Archery Range Offers New Sporting Option

By Stephanie Faughnan

HOWELL – A new archery range on Bass Place appears to have already hit the bullseye with its targeted audience as dozens of bow and arrow enthusiasts showed up for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Howell officials worked with the United Bowhunters of New Jersey (“UBNJ”) to resurrect the site, which previously served as an archery range

Crisis Training Named Program Of e Year

By Alyssa Riccardi

FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training was recently recognized as Program of the Year at the ninth annual New Jersey CIT Forum, held at the Middlesex County Fire Academy in Sayreville.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) launched its inaugural round of CIT Training in

June 2021, with a goal of turning it into a trusted blueprint for such programs statewide.

“This award represents validation of what those of us directly involved in CIT already know: this training is of vital importance, it works effectively, and its application literally saves lives,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said. “As

(Training - See Page 4) over a decade ago. One of the most remarkable aspects of the range is its accessibility to the public. Situated on Green Acres land, the range is free to everyone.

One goal is to encourage new people to take up the sport.

Deputy Mayor Evelyn O’Donnell said that John Erndl, UBNJ president, and his group approached the council about restoring the area. The idea immediately caught fi re as a means of providing families with an exciting outdoor activity to enjoy together without leaving town.

After O’Donnell cut the ribbon, two UBNJ members shot off the fi rst arrows onto the range with marked precision. Erndl said Robert Craemer and Matt Prefach had earned premier shots because of their contributions in setting up the target areas.

(Archery - See Page 11)

District Provides Update On Preschool Expansion

By Alyssa Riccardi

HOWELL – The Howell Township School District has announced an update to their preschool expansion program, discussing their goals and estimated benchmarks.

In 2022, Governor Phil

Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) announced the $26 million in funding, which was apportioned in the FY2023 budget. With these grants, nearly 2,150 additional three- and four- year-old children will have access to a preschool classroom across the state. This would increase New Jersey’s preschool seats to nearly 70,000.

Howell was one of 27

(Preschool - See Page 3)

Preschool:

Continued

From Page 1 districts across the state to receive funding to aid their preschool program in the 20222023 school year. They received an amount of $2,286,405 from the state grant.

At the time, Superintendent of Schools

Joseph Isola said the money will be used for a five-year plan to serve preschoolers in Howell Township. Its fi rst year began in fall 2022.

At the May 24 Board of Education meeting, Isola provided an update on the process and where they currently stand with the expansion.

“The years get a little confusing; we are currently in our fi rst year of the expansion grant. We have already completed our lottery and currently registering, inviting students to be registered for September 2023 where we will be adding 12 more classrooms. Those 12 classrooms will be outfitted in the existing buildings, the five primary buildings, just like they did for year one,” Isola said in his report. “When we go to year three, what the committee is grappling with is the timeline. We have five years to go to universe. Our universe is about 900 students, this is what they’re predicting we will have in our preschool program. That will require an excess of 60 classrooms of preschool across our district.”

According to state regulations, every school must have a plan to reach almost all of the “universe” of preschool-aged children in their district.

Isola further discussed how the board is currently working on picking the best model that will work for the district. Their plan is to create small discussion groups to weigh the pros and cons of each model.

“We actually own space due to the previous build out in the late turn of the century and the declining of enrollment that followed throughout the early 2000s. We built out for an excess of 8,000 students and we currently have about 5,500. So, you can recognize there is space there,” Isola said. “Where that space exists becomes the challenge and that’s what the council is looking at and what model of delivery will be chosen. We have looked at models that include the current model where preschools exist in the primary schools that we already have. We recognize they will outgrow those facilities and we’ll have to move if we continue to do that.”

Model 1 is a school district that will be structured in a way that offers two buildings of early learning centers. Then there will be four sister-pair schools for grades K-5, then two middle schools. Model 2 is two early learning centers, eight K-5 schools, and two middle schools.

“No matter how you look at it, there will be two middle schools and two early learning centers, but there are different configurations for the K-5 schools,” Isola explained.

“We are currently doing deep dives on these two specific models. These are not to be perceived as decisions but rather proof of concepts to see if we chose a model, does it work? We’re not going to discuss specific schools at this point, but what we’re looking at two different models that include early learning centers,” Isola added.

Isola also added that the district is using programs to help see what plans work based on where kids live as well as looking into their specialty programs at certain schools.

“It is my goal to get to Universe by year three, September 2024. Because of our unique situation of owning that space, if we designate an early learning center and don’t fill it, that could be problematic. Furthermore, the earlier we can provide free, high-quality preschool for our community, for everyone in our community, the better,” Isola said.

Isola ended his report by stating a presentation on the expansion plans will be presented to the board by July.

Former Gymnastics Coach Charged With Sexually Assaulting ree Athletes

By Alyssa Riccardi

MONMOUTH COUNTY – An Ocean County man, who was formerly a youth gymnastics coach across Monmouth County for 30 years, was arrested for committing sexual offenses against three of the athletes he coached while they were minors, officials said.

Sasha C. Raught, 55, of Manchester Township, was charged with fi rst-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault and three counts of second-degree Sexual Assault.

According to authorities, Raught entered into sexual relationships with three of his former athletes when they were each teenagers.

The fi rst two alleged instances took place when he was employed at Shrewsbury Gymnastics during the early to mid-1990s. The third instance took place in 2008, while he was employed at Jonas Gymnastics

Academy in Marlboro.

Last month, Raught was arrested at his home without incident and was lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending a detention hearing scheduled to take place on June 7. The State has filed a motion to keep Raught detained as the criminal case against him proceeds. Raught faces up to 20 years in state prison for fi rst-degree criminal charges.

Anyone with information about Raught’s activities is asked to contact MCPO Detective Joseph Pahopin toll-free at 1-800533-7443.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendants have all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

Training:

Continued From Page 1 more officers are trained, we continue to hear touching and encouraging stories about how just one week of training allowed them to intervene at among the lowest points in a person’s life, helping steer individuals in crisis to recovery.”

The training gives an in-depth look at mental illness, behavioral health, develop- mental disabilities and their implications for a law-enforcement response during a crisis, with a strong emphasis on de-escalation.

Instructors for MCPO’s CIT training include behavioral and mental health professionals from Monmouth Medical Center, the Monmouth County Mental Health Association, the Monmouth County Mental Health Board and CPC Behavioral Healthcare, as well as crisis resolution experts.

Officers learn to apply the strategies they learn in real-life situations in order to minimize the potential for injury or violence.

In addition, mental and behavioral health practitioners will sit in as students in the class in order to build relationships with the police officers, and to better understand the issues they face.

“MCPO’s CIT training is unique in that it also features a specially tailored curriculum with innovative approaches to crisis management, including FBI Negotiation and Threat Simulator components, a presentation on Faith & Blue (a police-chaplaincy partnership program), and training on recognition of signs of dementia,” a press release stated.

Last year, Long Branch Police Department Detective Sergio Chaparro and local Peer Recovery Specialist Nikki Tierney were honored to respectively accept the New Jersey CIT Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and Peer of the Year awards for their joint work in saving a life in crisis in summer 2021.

During their training, Chaparro struck up a conversation with Tierney, a certified crisis counselor and exchanged contact information. They reconnected just days later during a vital real-life situation.

One weekday afternoon in July 2021, fi rst responders found a 58-year-old named Tim (last name redacted) on a public bench in Long Branch, dehydrated, homeless, and barely responsive.

Chaparro recognized Tim’s name since he had previously responded to several calls for service involving him, including multiple previous overdoses. Knowing who he was, Chaparro reached out to Tierney through dispatch and asked that she come meet him.

After less than an hour, Tim was linked to housing, mental health and substance use disorder support. Tierney attributed his change of heart in great part due to Chaparro’s initial response.

There have also been similar stories CIT trained officers who have encountered individuals in crisis and connected them to resources. Among the towns, situations have risen out of Asbury Park, Hazlet, Holmdel, Keyport, and Spring Lake Heights, officials said.

More than half of the various law-enforcement agencies in Monmouth County have had at least one CIT training participant to date.

“We hosted our fifth round of CIT training at our office in Freehold the week before last, and we plan to continue with two training sessions annually for the foreseeable future,” said MCPO Director of Investigations Hoda Soliman, who also coordinates the CIT training in Monmouth County. “It’s a rare win-win-win: our police officers benefit, our community partners benefit, and the people they protect and serve benefit.”

“The Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners is proud to be supportive of the Prosecutor’s Office providing this incredible training,” Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone said. “We commend the Prosecutor’s Office, and their partners, for their well-deserved recognition and winning this prestigious award.”

Flag Retirement Box

HOWELL – Do you have old flags? Flags can be retired outside of the Southard Fire Department in their flag retirement box.

This is maintained by a local Eagle Scout, Jacob Grdovic, who completed the project and donated it to the Southard Fire Department. He has been emptying it on a weekly basis and working with a local VFW to make sure the flags are retired in a dignified way.