BOE Denies Funding for Natural Helpers at MEMS

After much , the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education on Tuesday voted down a resolution restoring funding for the peer mentor program Natural Helpers at the district's

The bulk of the program’s expense is a student training retreat that would have cost the district over $15,700 out-of-pocket, due to the fact that a grant had been eliminated. In light of the new and the fact that Natural Helpers had been in the district for 19 years, this proved to be a difficult vote for some of the board members.

Board Member Dotty Porcaro prompted the final discussion on the topic by suggesting the board grant funding for one year, and then have Natural Helpers seek outside funding. Several board members agreed with that suggestion. However, Board Member Brian Graime gave a compelling argument against funding.

“I think there are plenty of things in place already within our school system for some of the things that this type of program caters towards,” said Graime. He pointed out that no students had come forward to ask for the program. “It’s just way too much money. If they want to come back next year with grant money and bring it back, that’s great. But we should not fund it this year - absolutely not."

Board Member Ralph Cafaro agreed and had even asked a recent MEMS graduate if the program was missed since it had been absent for a year.

“If the funding [grant] comes back, I’m all for it. I don’t think that at this time, in this economic climate, we should fund this,” said Cafaro.

“I felt that it’s a lot of money,” added Board President Michele Stipelman. “Last year, people came and fought for other programs. Nobody came and fought for that one.”

Stipelman added that she would rather see the money devoted to other student activities, perhaps a curriculum-based field trip.

Board Vice-President Lori Semel noted that New Jersey is now the toughest state in anti-bullying and thinks that great progress is being made to address students’ emotional needs.

Diane Bindler has proven to be the only Board Member consistently in favor of bringing the program back to MEMS and was the only “yes” vote for funding. Disagreeing with Graime, she argued that rising eighth graders would not have known about the program since they would have been trained in the seventh grade.

“It’s great that New Jersey right now is being the most proactive state in reporting of incidents, but we need to be proactive in preventing incidents,” said Bindler. “[Bullying is] a sport for these kids, and it’s really a shame.”

Stipelman said that Superintendent John J. Marciante will look into alternative student programs and activities that can further address anti-bullying. 

MEMS Principal, Robert Williams declined to comment on the board's decision. Williams and MEMS guidance counselor Rosalyn Goldsmith had to explain the program and requested funding for its re-installation at a meeting several weeks ago.

The vote on Natural Helpers preceded a discussion on several honorariums for the 2011-2012 school year.  

Former Board of Education president Donna Formoso attended the meeting to point out activities that had been removed last year but had reappeared on the evening’s agenda.

One of the programs she noticed—The Odyssey of the Mind in Clark Mills—was mistakenly listed. Stipelman and Assistant Superintendent Joanne Monroe confirmed that this was an error. 

Formoso also noted that the Student Activities honorarium at MEMS had been eliminated last year but appeared on this list. Superintendent John J. Marciante Jr. confirmed that the Board had agreed to completely withdraw the activity last year, and it should remain that way.

Despite the two errors, Marciante and Monroe did not want to revoke the entire list from the agenda when some of the activities are about to begin.

Marciante also said that if some of the programs that were eliminated last year are back, that is because they are pending minimum enrollment which varies per activity. The school newspaper is an example of an honorarium that was initially approved last year, but then revoked when students did not join.

“While there is one person in the back that this is an important issue for, I do think that the parents in this community, made a very strong statement by passing the budget by more votes than they have for years,” said Marciante, in reference to former board President Donna Formoso. In this year’s budget, the district has absorbed activity fees. “I do think that most parents anticipated that most, if not all, of these things were coming back.”  

The honorariums were unanimously approved by the eight members present. Board Member James Mumolie was absent.