Seaside Heights School Board Seeking More Participation, Will Change Meeting Times

The Hugh J. Boyd elementary school in Seaside Heights, 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The Seaside Heights Board of Education, which will continue to operate following the defeat of a referendum earlier this year that would have merged the district into the Toms River Regional school system, is planning to begin greater outreach to the community, starting with holding meetings at a time many believe will be more convenient for residents.

“We’re trying to get the community more involved, and I believe changing the time is going to get more participation,” said newly-minted board member Richard Sasso, who also leads the town’s Property Owners Association.

The meetings currently begin at 8:20 a.m., which has led to complaints from residents who say the time is too early in the morning and conflicts with work and school schedules. The board has also been criticized in the past for holding lengthy closed sessions while attendees waited for the business portion of the meeting to begin.

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Sasso said the board is likely going to hold its closed session meetings at 5:30 p.m. and begin its regular public meetings at 6 p.m.

“We used to open the session and leave people hanging for 45 minutes, and we don’t want to do that anymore,” he said. “We’re getting there.”

The annual meeting schedule is generally set at the start of each year and time changes will require a notice to be published in a legacy print newspaper’s legal notice section. Shorebeat will also report the change when it is formally announced.

Meanwhile, Sasso said he has begun engaging with the principal of the Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School and hopes to partner with the borough to repair curbs and sidewalks in the area of the school, plus trim several trees that are hanging over the sidewalks and pathways.

“I walked with the principal around the corner, and there are trees there that they do not want to take down for privacy purposes,” he said. “But we’re going to trim them off from the bottom so they can get out of the way of the sidewalk.”

The board has also scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, July 24 at 5:30 p.m. to discuss a potential shared services agreement between Seaside Heights School District and Berkeley Township School District for “educational oversight and business operations of the Boyd Elementary School.” The meeting will be open to the public.