December 5, 2001
The new Ocean City High School is a good fit
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
The winter sports season is about to start for Ocean City High School teams, the most difficult season of
the year. John Bruno, Paul Baruffi and Bill Nickles have to juggle their schedules around the Intermediate
School teams, sometimes forcing them to practice in the evening.
Most of you know that OCHS has struggled through decades with an inadequate gymnasium. A lot of the
public discussion has centered around the gym’s roof, and it was disgraceful that those in charge allowed
the leaky roof to have a negative impact on physical education for so long.
But the roof is just a part of the problem. Bring in the best roofer in America and install a new
state-of-the-art roof with a brand new floor below and you would still have an out-dated, under-sized,
inadequate gym.
It used to be a showcase. Many of today’s athletes would find it hard to believe that the NJSIAA used the
facility as a neutral site for a number of South Jersey semi-final and final games back in the late 1950s and
1960s. Of course, phone booths and cassette tapes were once the latest things, too. The world moves on
and, if you expect your young people to be ready for it, your educational facilities need to move on.
While the main focus here is usually sports, there is more wrong with the current high school than just the
gym. Then again, it is impossible to imagine anyone living in this community who doesn’t know that.
The argument isn’t about IF the community needs a new school. It is about WHERE that school should be
built, in Ocean City or Upper Township. Some people probably think that is what the vote on Tuesday is
about.
Ocean City or Upper Township.
The problem with that thinking is that there is no Upper Township proposal. The only time their voters were
asked about building a high school they voted overwhelmingly against the idea. And, while a new school
would cost Ocean City residents less than $100 a year in additional taxes on a $200,000 home, that cost
would be close to $700 in Upper Township. Wonder what advice the folks at F.I.T. would give Upper
Township residents on that vote?
The point is, no alternative to the Ocean City plan exists, except another silly charter school plan. It
boggles the mind that board of education members, elected to help the public school system, actually
think they can do that by taking money and students away from the public schools to start a private
school.
Quite frankly, if you have a child in second grade or higher and you want your kid to go to high school in a
building worthy of a community like Ocean City, you’d better vote in favor of Tuesday’s referendum. For, if
this proposal were defeated, it would be at least 10 years before you would see a building open in Upper
Township. And that is assuming their residents would even approve one.
There are people who will vote against this proposal because they want to get the kids off the island. Little
can be said to influence them. But some people may be looking at the proposal negatively because they
have been fed misleading information.
For example, one piece of data stated that only “about 300” students from Ocean City attend the high
school. The number is actually 467. That same release said that 1,000 came from the sending districts,
but only 825 do. And about 700 of them are from Upper Township.
It has been estimated that the future growth rates for Ocean City and Upper Township are almost exactly
the same. It’s hard to comprehend that when you see all the land and trees in Upper Township but try
building on most of that land and you’ll quickly understand.
When they talk about the high school in Upper Township – the plan that does not exist – they make it
sound like Princeton or Harvard. Since there is no real plan, the only option is to take a look at the
schematic drawn up in 1996.
It included one football field, one baseball field, one softball field, one field hockey field, one soccer field
and five tennis courts. That means, unlike what you have been led to believe, athletes WOULD be bused at
Upper Township High School. With only one field, junior varsity and freshmen teams would be transported
to Caldwell Park and other locations. And, with just five tennis courts, jayvee matches would either be
eliminated or bused to another site.
Nobody thinks that having baseball and softball fields four blocks from the high school - and field hockey
and soccer fields even further – is the perfect situation. But kids at Oakcrest walk almost as far to their
football field as Ocean City kids do to their baseball field. Claims that these situations would be greatly
improved for athletes in the nonexistent Upper Township High School are just not true.
In addition, no studies have been made of possible Upper Township sites for Wetlands or Green Acres
approval. It is very likely that those studies would reduce the size of the area available for development. Not
to mention the police, fire and other situations that Upper Township would have to address.
It is also disappointing to hear a member of Ocean City’s elected city council call this referendum “just a
school board issue”. That is like calling the closing of the Longport Bridge a small detour. Somebody tell
that guy that this might be the single most important vote in Ocean City for decades.
If the high school leaves town, hundreds of thousands – probably millions – of dollars will go with it.
Businesses will be negatively affected by the lack of traffic and some may close for the winter. That could
lead to layoffs and more financial problems.
For someone who has been elected to guide Ocean City’s future to dismiss this vote as “a school board
issue” is extraordinarily shortsighted. Another city council member asked for the council to decide not to
speak publicly about the issue. What are these people thinking?
The view from here is that any city council member who does not endorse the new school construction is
creating an issue that should strongly impact his chances for re-election.
Simply put, building the new Ocean City High School across the street from the old one is a good fit.
It is a good fit financially. The state has committed $11.5 million if this is approved – money that is
guaranteed and that would probably not be available if Upper Township ever decided to build. And, thanks
to Allen Greenspan, interest rates are quite a bit lower right now than they were expected to be, further
reducing the costs.
It is a good fit geographically. The proposed school fits beautifully on the site (check it out at
www.buildthehighschool.com) and would still allow for parking on the old school site along with the
relocated tennis courts and, possibly, use of the Headley Library Building as a tennis office and
replacement for the Youth Center.
It is a good fit for the future. The young people of Ocean City, who have over-achieved academically and
athletically in a mediocre facility, would thrive in the new school with its improved opportunities.
Tuesday’s vote is not just about kids, though there is no doubt they will benefit greatly from its approval.
Schools are the centerpiece of every community and this community needs a new one. But Tuesday’s
vote is just as much about the outlook for Ocean City.
Will it continue to be a thriving, year-round town filled with varied shopping, family activities and lively
neighborhoods? Or, will it virtually close down for seven or eight months a year with all of the energy
moving offshore with the high school? Of course, that is assuming Upper Township ever gets a proposal
together that it will approve. An equally depressing alternative is for nothing to change and for future
generations of kids to attend high school in trailers and an inadequate building.
Everything fits right now - the money from the state, the low interest rates, the well-designed facility. It is a
chance to make Ocean City better for generations to come.
Voting “yes” for this referendum is just a good fit.
GO TO OUR FORUM TO
EXPRESS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THIS COLUMN, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S ON YOUR MIND!