Attack Ads Pepper Toms River School Board Campaign

Toms River NJ

01 November, 2021

5:34 AM

Description

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The final weeks of the election season in Toms River have seen a flurry of attacking campaign mailers and text messages, with much of the money and effort directed at the campaign for the unpaid seats on the Board of Education. Here is a final look at the candidates and at claims that have been made, ahead of Tuesday's vote. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. There are two Toms River seats and the South Toms River seat up for election. There are seven candidates seeking the two Toms River seats, which are three-year terms. Jennifer Howe and Joseph Nardini are seeking re-election to the board. Challenging them are Rachel Remelgado, Anthony Melisi, Antonio Ellis, Lynn O'Toole and George Lobman. The South Toms River seat is held by Anna Polozzo, who is seeking re-election. Mary Guarin is challenging for the seat. O'Toole, Lobman and Guarin did not answer candidate questionnaires from Patch. Click the names to read the candidates' responses. Toms River School Board Election 2021: Jennifer HoweToms River School Board Election 2021: Rachel RemelgadoToms River School Board Election 2021: Joseph NardiniToms River School Board Election 2021: Antonio EllisToms River School Board Election 2021: Anthony MelisiToms River School Board Election 2021: Anna Polozzo The school board campaign has included several glossy mailers to South Toms River voters bashing Polozzo, inflammatory text messages labeling Nardini and Howe as liberals and bashing them over curriculum materials, and a slickly produced video that was circulated to voters bashing Howe using out-of-context audio clips from Toms River school board meetings. Some of the claims that have been made in the school board race include: That the board started a new busing service to Lakewood private schools: Busing private school students has been required under New Jersey state law since the 1960s. Public school districts are required to provide busing for students attending nonpublic schools that are within a 25-mile radius of the student's home, or pay a stipend, called aid-in-lieu, to the student's family. The aid-in-lieu amount, which is set by the state, is currently $1,000 per student. The law says the district can only pay the aid-in-lieu if the cost to transport the student exceeds the aid-in-lieu amount. When students are bused, it is because the cost to do so is less than the aid-in-lieu per student. The district is paying a private bus company (through a bidding process) to provide transportation for some students to Lakewood private schools, but is providing aid-in-lieu to most students who are eligible under the law for busing. The district is reimbursed by the state for a portion of the costs. That the board raised property taxes by $10 million over the last three years: Under S2, the Toms River Regional School District is required to increase the district's property tax levy by 2 percent each year during the seven years of cuts. That increase is required because the contention is that taxpayers in the Toms River school district are not paying their fair share of property taxes to support schools. In addition, the property tax levy increase includes funding of the $147 million in capital projects that are being done across the district — funding the school district's voters approved in 2019. That extracurricular activities and sports were cut and extracurricular activity busing was cut: There were cuts to assistant coaches two years ago, and there were a few clubs that were eliminated based on lack of participation. The busing issue in the 2021-22 school year has been due to the extreme bus driver shortage affecting the district — one that has been plaguing the entire nation. That the school district's graduation rate and technology are lagging behind the state: The Toms River Regional Schools' graduation rate exceeds the state average. It has a 1-to-1 device-to-student ratio, with every student assigned a Chromebook. That the school board is controlled by Democrats/liberals: School boards are supposed to be nonpartisan entities, not tied to a particular political party. However, of the current members of the Toms River Regional Board of Education, only two seats are held by registered Democrats and neither is up for election in 2021. The rest of the board is registered Republicans. Political influence has been at the center of ongoing issues on the school board, including the battle over hiring a new superintendent, and has been apparent in the school board campaign. Letters from Guarin and from Lobman and O'Toole that have been sent to voters were identical except for candidate names, and the campaigns for all three have Geri Ambrosio, president of the Toms River Republican Club, as their treasurer. In spite of claims by school board members Lisa Contessa and Ashley Palmiere that they are not being influenced for political purposes, an Oct. 22 post on the Toms River Republican Club's Facebook page directly addressed the school district, saying "Members of our club want our town led by the right Republicans." "Our town has seen a lot of changes in the last 2 years and we want to bring back the way Toms River used to be. People used to move to Toms River for low taxes and the great school system. Taxes keep going up and the school's curriculum is changing to benefit the left wing ideology. We promise to do everything possible to bring good conservative leadership back to Toms River," said the post, which includes a photo showing Contessa sitting at what appears to be a sign-in table at the meeting. In South Toms River, residents say there have been at least six mailers from Guarin's campaign, most of which have accused Polozzo of ruining the district. The cost of the mailings was not yet available through New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filings. Mailers are expensive; in 2020, the Contessa/Palmiere campaign spent $5,000 on two occasions for the printing and mailing of glossy mailers to Toms River voters for their campaign. One of Guarin's letters highlighted her status as a Republican. Text messages have been employed by the Lobman/O'Toole campaigns claiming the board is controlled by Democrats and attacking Howe and Nardini, with one calling them liberals. An inflammatory text on Oct. 22 blamed them for an art history link that was in the district's curriculum documents published on the district's website. In a link buried on the art history site, there were three photos parents objected to as being too explicit. One father accused the board of allowing "porn," and the text message echoed that statement. The district removed the link from the website the night of the school board meeting and says the three photos, which were buried on another link within the art history website and not published on the Toms River Schools' website, were not being shown to children. The other candidates — Remelgado, who has been participating in the district's fight against the S2 cuts through multiple trips to testify before state legislators; Melisi, a parent who recently began attending school board meetings and speaking against mask mandates; and Ellis, a Manchester Township police officer who is running with Nardini — have not been subjected to the attack ads the three incumbent board members have faced. Click here to get Patch email notifications, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email [email protected] Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.