Bullying, State Aid Are Big Topics At Middletown School Board Forum

MIDDLETOWN, NJ ? Aging school buildings, dwindling state aid, academic learning loss due to the pandemic and mental health/bullying were all top topics addressed in a Middletown school board virtual candidates' forum.

The virtual forum was held this past Monday night, and was sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Sitting Board member Leonora Lacqua-Caminiti did not attend, and neither did Joseph Fitzgerald, who said he had a prior work obligation.

All the other candidates participated.

You can watch the forum in its entirety here: https://lwvmonmouth.org/vid42....

Again, here is who is running for the Middletown school board:

• Lauren Anderson, "Elevating Education"
• John Little, current Board member, running for re-election
• Leonore E. Lacqua-Caminiti, current Board member, running for re-election, the "Middletown Families First" slate
• Gary Tulp, the "Middletown Families First" slate
• Joseph Fitzgerald, the "Middletown Families First" slate
• Kristie Tapolow, "Fairness Respectful Compassionate"

The moderator asked all the candidates how they would specifically address bullying and harassment in Middletown schools. This comes after a 14-year-old High School North sophomore died in early September; her family cited issues with bullying, social media, the pandemic and lack of psychiatric help.

After her death, several parents have come forward and said bullying and exclusion are major problems in the Middletown school district, and issues that have been swept under the rug and not talked about for years.

Tapolow is a social worker in the Middletown school district. She was also one of the district's harassment and bullying specialists. She suggested the district launched an "assessment tool district wide to "get a pulse" on where the students are "to make sure they are not feeling left out."

Tulp, running on a slate with Fitzgerald and Camimti, said the district needs to implement harsher consequences for students who bully, and make sure students are aware of those consequences.

"The clearer we can be about the consequences" to bullying, the better, said Tulp. "The best deterrents are ones that are visible and frankly, scary."

Tulp also said Middletown schools need to "develop an every day culture that encourages our students to be upstanders and not bystanders. That's a day-to-day culture change."

When she was asked this question, Anderson replied, without naming names, said "we can't expect students be a certain way when they see adults in their community acting another."

Anderson also said she wants to see partisan politics removed from the school board and school board members "set a better example for our children and leading with kindness and compassion"

The moderator then asked the candidates their opinions on removing books from school libraries.

"Generally, I am not going to be for banning books," said Anderson. "I don't think there's anything in a school library that is so offensive it needs to be banned. But I'm open to hearing opinions from parents, and having conversations with parents if that's something they feel strongly about. But generally speaking, I don't think we need to ban books from schools."

Little answered: "I don't know of any situations where we've banned books. I do think age-appropriate is key. I do think parents should have a say in what's being taught at different levels."

Tapolow said: "Parents should have the right to make some of the decisions and make the parents involved."

Tulp replied: "Parents and the Board of Education have the responsibility that if certain books make it into the library or classroom, and aren't what the Board of Ed. had in mind, then there has to be a process where we can have a conversation and keep things developmentally and age appropriate for our kids."

On a different topic, all the candidates praised this year's decision by the Board of Ed. to put armed police officers in all Middletown schools, in response to school shootings.

The budget is another big concern for the school district. The Middletown school district continues to be the victim of funding cuts from the state. In the past two years, state aid for Middletown schools went down from $18 million to $15 million. This also comes when several Middletown school buildings are ore than 100 years old.

Little said he was concerned about the age of Middletown school buildings and warned that the district's capital budget is very small.

When she was asked about the budget, Tapolow called on the Board of Education to advocate in Trenton for more state aid.

Tulp also emphasized the academic loss of the past two years, citing statewide data that third graders' test sores went down dramatically in math and language arts since schools were closed due to coronavirus.

"Before you know it, you've got high schoolers who are still reading at late elementary/middle school level," said Anderson.