Schools, Taxes, COVID-19: What 2021 Has In Store For Manchester

MANCHESTER, NJ — With the holidays behind us, Monday brings a return to school for students and teachers and for many people, a return to work. The kickoff of 2021 brings with it a number of issues from 2020, however.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to affect so many areas of life, and likely will for much of the year. Its impact will be felt locally on businesses, on schools and on the township as a whole.

Here's an update on the coronavirus numbers for Manchester and a look ahead at what municipal and school district officials will be dealing with in 2021.

Coronavirus update

The number of cases and number of deaths from the coronavirus have continued to rise in Manchester, as they have across New Jersey.

Ocean County remains in the orange "high risk" category due to the rates of transmission of the coronavirus. As of Sunday, Ocean County had 33,551 cases, up 2,659 from 30,892 on Dec. 27. Manchester had 158 new cases in that time, with 2,195, up from 2,037 on Dec. 27, according to the Ocean County Health Department.

As of Sunday, there have been more than 492,000 cases of the coronavirus in New Jersey since March, including 3,676 new ones reported Sunday, according to the state Department of Health COVID-19 website. As of Saturday, 3,521 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus, with 669 in intensive care and 462 patients on ventilators, according to the state COVID-19 website.

Deaths in Ocean County have risen from 1,057 as of Nov. 29 to 1,298, and Manchester has seen an increase from 176 to 222.

Schools, funding and COVID-19

The Manchester Township School District resumes the school year with hybrid instruction, but the district has been keeping a close eye on the number of cases. Superintendent David Trethaway urged parents and staff to be careful about holiday gatherings to avoid the need for the district to move to remote instruction.

Manchester had plans to increase its in-person instruction, but the rising case numbers prompted the district to delay those plans. The goal, however, has been clear: to move back to in-person instruction sooner rather than later.

The school budget discussions will move to the forefront, and Manchester is faced with the potential for cuts under S2, the law that has dictated cuts to school districts deemed to be receiving more than their fair share of school funding.

Manchester has not experienced the depth of cuts other districts have, but the cuts are no less frustrating for the administration.

When the school board holds its reorganization meeting, James "Ken" Pate, Melanie Biscardi and Laura Wingler will be sworn in to full terms on the board, and George Cervenak III will be sworn to finish out an uncompleted term.

Township update

The Manchester Township Council is scheduled to hold its reorganization meeting at 6 p.m. Monday. The meeting will be held via Zoom because of pandemic gathering restrictions.

Click here to watch the Zoom meeting.

Manchester will be faced with tax issues because of the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic.

The township council also will continue to be seeking solutions for protecting open space and preventing overwhelming growth in the town.

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