Pride Month Festival Returns For Fifth Year District Enrolling More Multilingual Learners

By Chris Lundy

By Bob Vosseller TOMS RIVER – June

is Pride month in New Jersey and among the events held around the state was the township’s 5 th Annual LGBTQ+ Pride Festival on Washington Street which had a large turnout.

Numerous vendors set up tables along the road, which was shut down for the event.

Some vendors were organizations that distributed information and promoted communication about issues.

Some were hoping to collaborate in order to benefit the community’s evolving Downtown district.

It also served to ad- vance the mission of fostering a welcoming and comfortable environment for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community in the shore area “and our neighboring counties,” according to a statement from Toms River Pride on the Exit (Pride - See Page 5)

County Creating Homelessness Trust Fund

By Chris Lundy

OCEAN COUNTY – After many years of criticism over the way Ocean County handles homelessness, the leaders are creating a trust fund that will pay for temporary housing and other services.

The county will charge a $5 fee on certain documents fi led or recorded with the County Clerk’s Office. In 2022, there were more than 130,000 documents, officials said. The fee is expected to go into effect Sept. 1.

“Based on the number of documents recorded over the last three years, the fund could raise anywhere from $275,000 to $390, 000,” Commissioner Barbara Jo Crea said. “These funds are raised annually and will be used to support ongoing homelessness and housing instability programs along with the Code Blue program.”

Code Blue is a state law that opens shelters when the temperature ap- proaches freezing. All of the shelters are run by volunteers, church groups, and nonprofits.

The money will stay in Ocean County, officials said.

“We can use the funds raised by the Homelessness Trust Fund with more flexibility to provide rental assistance vouchers, supportive services and prevention services,” Crea said.

The money also can be used for the

TOMS RIVER

– The number of multilingual students is set to nearly double between this school year and the next, and teachers are learning how to teach a diverse population.

Adrienne Gold, director of secondary curriculum and ESL coordinator, said during a recent Board of Education meeting that certain teachers will be certified as ESL (English as a Second Language) to meet the growing demand.

During the current school year, there are 400 multilingual students. Next year, there are at least 355 who are joining, she said. Of the new ones, about 200 are new to the country, and have “interrupted formal education.”

Gold and Rachel Cicala, the director of elementary curriculum, have been working

(Learners - See Page 5)