Tuition-Free Agreement Will End for Seaside Park Students Attending Toms River High Schools

Seaside Park must pay.

That’s the recommendation of the Toms River Regional School Board, regarding a between Seaside Park and Toms River Regional, where did not have to pay tuition for students attending Toms River’s high schools.

The agreement was in place since 2008 at the urging of then-Superintendent Michael Ritacco, and the school board approved it.

Residents had been inquiring as to why the agreement was allowed, in that Toms River was assuming the cost of educating the students but the sending district was not paying tuition, resulting in a loss of tuition revenue.

Superintendent Frank Roselli said that practice will come to an end for the coming school year.

“On April 27, I informed the Seaside Park representative that Toms River Regional would no longer accept the secondary students without paying tuition,” Roselli said at tonight’s board meeting.  “Tonight, in executive session, the board approved that recommendation.”

As a result, Seaside Park will pay tuition for any student that attends Toms River Regional high schools. Seaside Park already pays tuition for students at Toms River elementary and intermediate schools.

Toms River Regional will have a new sending-receiving agreement with Seaside Park, Roselli said. The state Department of Education will set the tuition rate.

The tuition-free agreement was made under Ritacco, and Toms River Regional agreed to accept nine Seaside Park students into the Toms River high schools tuition-free. Ritacco, who resides in Seaside Park, is awaiting trial for federal corruption charges and resigned amid his arrest in October.

Roselli said recently the original agreement was made during an era where state government pushed for consolidation of districts, and that the Seaside Park situation was an example of that. Compared to then, the push to consolidate is not as great, Roselli said, and it was time to re-examine the agreement.

Amid the debate in Toms River Regional, the Seaside Park school district is part of the Central Regional School district, and officials there and in Berkeley Township searched for answers as to why the agreement was allowed. Officials there saw the issue as having an impact on state funding formulas as well.

Also, several residents have been bringing up the Seaside Park issue over multiple meetings of the Toms River Regional school board, hoping for answers.

Tonight, what they heard brought many to applause.

“Finally — tuition from Seaside Park,” said resident Dennis Galante.

Resident Carole Benson asked if the tuition was a burden shouldered by the individual parent or if the cost was shared among Seaside Park taxpayers.

Board member Gus Kakavas said the family could indeed end up paying $10,000 in tuition as well as their Seaside Park school tax burden.

Roselli said Toms River Regional would not likely recoup tuition retroactive to 2008, when the agreement was put in place. He also mentioned this was an issue only with high school student tuition, as 29 students are sent to Toms River elementary schools under a tuition agreement already in place.

Seaside Park will not get a discount on tuition, Roselli said.

“For the students who apply to attend, they will be treated as any other student from outside the district. There will be a tuition charged and it will be set by the state department of education,” he said. “The other agreement is now voided.”

After the board meeting, board member Alex Pavliv said he was glad for the announcement. As this was his first meeting since his election April 27, he sees the Seaside Park agreement as a impactful change.

“Maybe a new wind is blowing in Toms River,” Pavliv said.

Board member Ben Giovine said that Roselli brought up the agreement in executive session.

“He said there was a major announcement, and that he wanted to make sure we were all there to weigh in on it,” Giovine said. “I was surprised and happy to hear the agreement.”

Pavliv said credit must be given to the residents who kept pushing for answers on the agreement over multiple meetings. He cited questions asked meeting after meeting by Galante and Benson, urging the district to investigate the agreement.

Toms River school board attorney Thomas E. Monahan said at the February meeting that a state statute permits school boards to admit students from outside the district, and to decide the rate of tuition, including not charging their sending district at all.

At the March meeting Roselli said the district was busy working with the sending district as well as the Ocean County School Board’s to determine the best course of action.

At the Toms River Regional school board meeting, Roselli said the state has until September to set the tuition rate.