Our View

Honest assessment
needed at boro school

Stories about incidents of violence in and around the Freehold Intermediate School, Freehold Borough, that were published in the News Transcript in recent weeks paint a disturbing picture of a public education institution.

Parents crowded a Board of Education meeting earlier this month and spoke about several recent incidents of violence that occurred in the building. These include an incident in which one pupil struck another in the head and caused the victim to suffer a concussion. That occurred in a classroom.

Another incident took place in the lunchroom and resulted in a broken ankle for one young man. A third incident did not occur on school grounds, but involved a pupil found to be in possession of a BB gun. There are indications that there may be school-related reasons why a young man felt he needed to have protection.

These incidents must lead school board members to question just what is going on in the school that would result in this type of activity. Parents don’t want to hear the "boys will be boys" explanation that can be used to describe some school fights. Board members must determine whether there is a staff problem or issues of a deeper social nature in the building.

We don’t believe parents are making up stories out of the blue. Where there is smoke, there is fire. Every one of the nine residents who sits on the board has the duty to find out what is going on and to report those findings to the public.

One of the more disturbing aspects of this situation is the school administrators’ apparent reticence to notify borough police of violent acts that occur in the intermediate school.

Board members must conduct a thorough review of that situation immediately.

This is an opportune time for the board to conduct a full investigation of what is going on in the intermediate school. A new superintendent will arrive in the Freehold Borough district in July. He is coming from Ocean County and there is no reason to believe he has any preconceived notions about policies or people in the district. One of his first tasks should be an assessment of how and why things seem to have gotten out of control in the intermediate school.

As always, the opinion page of the News Transcript remains available to any Freehold Bor-ough resident, municipal official, parent, student, school district staff member, school administrator or school board member who wants to address this issue in a forthright and truthful manner.

Heads need to be taken out of the sand right now.

Some parents who addressed the board earlier this month believe the Freehold Intermediate School is standing on a dangerous line that separates a safe, secure learning environment from a place where children fear for their safety. We don’t know if their assessment is accurate, but their comments must not be dismissed out of hand by the board members and school district administrators.

If the school really is slipping out of control, then the situation is absolutely unacceptable and must be corrected. The board has an entire summer to put things back on the right track. The work starts now.

If parents and the press have not painted an accurate picture of the situation at the Freehold Intermediate School, then somebody who can tell us why it isn’t accurate should come forward today and tell the community just what the truth is.