HUDSON COUNTY – The last-ditch attempt to save the athletic programs at the Hudson County Schools of Technology failed on Monday night.
After nearly four hours of presentations from school administrators, parents, and even some athletes themselves, the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders voted down a proposal that would have amended the Hudson County 2010 budget by $300,000 to help keep the athletic programs at both County Prep of Jersey City and High Tech in North Bergen alive.
The proposed amendment to the budget, which was introduced by Freeholder Bill O’Dea, was voted down by a vote of 5-2, with only O’Dea and Freeholder Eliu Rivera voting for the proposal. Freeholder Jeffrey Dublin was not present for the vote due to a death in his family.
One speaker after another voiced reasons why the programs should stay active, but the freeholders would not budge on the idea.
Freeholder Jose Munoz believed that a vote for the proposed amendment would “lead to a war’’ between the freeholders and the elected officials in the representing municipalities. The mayors of most of Hudson County’s towns want to do away with the county schools’ athletic programs in order to save money, and because they believe some of the schools are drawing top athletes away from the individual towns’ public schools.
“We did things the wrong way here,” Munoz said. “This is the wrong way to do it. The mayors are going to say no.”
“I don’t like this war, but we didn’t start this war,” O’Dea retorted. “We need to show we support the idea of sports programs at these schools.”
Freeholder Anthony Romano said that he was told by a Schools of Technology board member that if the freeholders voted for the amendment, it would be “like putting a gun to their heads.”
For more on the meeting, look for Jim Hague’s report in the Hudson Reporter news section and his Scoreboard sports column this week.