In answering questions concerning the amount of a state drug prevention grant issued to the schools, Board of Education figures were significantly higher than those reported to local drug officials by the town, but showed a significant drop since the town took over the grant in 1999.
Rev. William Henkel, a member of the Municipal Drug Alliance – a volunteer board funded by money seized from drug raids and fines imposed on drug-related crimes – is among two members seeking a full accounting of the Alliance’s funding.
Over the last year, Henkel and a fellow member, Donald Skinner, have sought the budget for the Alliance, asking about allocations of money as well as town services required as a condition of the grant. Under the program, which is about 13 years old, the state sets aside a percentage of drug fines for education and treatment. These funds are divided among the state’s 21 counties. Each county sets up its own system of how to use the money. Some counties develop a countywide drug education program. In Hudson County, the money is divided among the 12 municipalities based on the percentage of population in each town, with towns like Jersey City getting the most and Secaucus, with its vastly smaller population, getting less. Secaucus’ Drug Alliance has up to 20 unpaid volunteer members, although only about six show up for regular meetings.
In the past, the Alliance had had little say in financing decisions, because most of the operations have been conducted through the town and school business offices. The town sees the Alliance as an advisory think tank to come up with ideas.
Although town officials say the town’s drug programs are being run largely as it has been since its formation in the early 1990, Henkel and Skinner have been unable to verify this fact through documentation.
“We have not been able to look at the Alliance’s budget,” Henkel complained during an interview several months ago, and he said he has been forced to seek out information from other sources.
During the public portion of Feb. 14 Board of Education meeting, Henkel received school figures that did not jive with figures he had received from Town Hall.
Town Administrator Anthony Iacono said that – except for the current year – the town received $19,000 a year, and that all of this money was issued to the schools to help offset costs of school district’s contract with St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken for its drug and alcohol counseling program.
According to Iacono, the town, rather than allocating the money to the Alliance to use, has been directly giving it to a drug referral service for the school district. If a student is considered at risk for drug use or has displayed drug and alcohol related problems, the school calls experts from St. Mary Hospital. Jill Pries, who is chairperson of the Secaucus Municipal Alliance, is also an employee of St. Mary Hospital, and the grant pays her salary for her work in the schools. The school district’s contract for this year is for about $60,000. The Alliance grant, with its matching fees from the town, helps offset the cost.
Iacono said the grant allocation has not changed since the Alliance was founded, with the exception of one year.
“A couple of years ago, we tried to run the program through the Board of Health,” Iacono said. “But when that didn’t work, we went back to the way it was originally.”
Skinner, however, questioned this, saying a fundamental change occurred when the Board of Health took over, noting that town took on a more significant role as administrator of operations. The role had previously been held by Robert Hesterfer, former coordinator for the Municipal Alliance. He was also a paid drug counselor in the schools.
However, school figures show a significant drop in revenue to the schools from $45,000 before town redirected resources to the Board of Health in 1999, to around $20,000 afterwards.
“We can only give figures from our side,” said Board of Education Administrator Edward J. Walkiewicz “We don’t know what the town has.”
Henkel is seeking answers
According to county figures, the town received about $30,000 this year, requiring the town to use the money for more than one program. Under provisions of the grant, if the town receives more than $20,000, it must fund other drug-education and prevention projects.
Under state law, the town must match the Municipal Alliance grant with 25 percent in cash, and 75 percent in services and supplies. Henkel and Skinner are looking to determine what services the town has provided to help in drug and alcohol prevention to meet the mandates of the grant.
Henkel said one of the problems he has with the town’s allocation of the Municipal Alliance Grant to the school is that the program is supposed to also address adults. He said he has had trouble getting reports on the program in general and asked if the schools would provide him with a report on how successful the drug intervention has been.
Skinner and Henkel would like the Alliance to be a more structured group, in which they can make formal proposals and vote on them before bringing the suggestions to the council for approval and possible funding. They would also like to know about the budget so that they have an idea of the range of activities they can afford to hold.
In addressing the Board of Education, Henkel said he has been involved in the Municipal Drug Alliance since its founding in 1990, and previous to that, Project Secaucus, a drug prevention program that did not rely on government funding. Henkel said that over the last few years, there has been of climate as far as the Alliance is concerned causing him to raise questions he had not had in the past.
“I’m trying to understand what our responsibilities are,” he told the board, “and I’m trying to understand things better.”
In answering Henkel’s questions at the Board of Education meeting, Walkiewicz said that since his being hired as the administrator to the board five years ago, the school district has received a portion of the grant from the town. He said the schools had received $21,296 last year and $24,104 the year the Board of Health took over the grant. in 1998, the school received $45,400 from the town as part of the grant allocation.
Board President Paul Amico said the school has received partial payment since the Board of Health took over funding in 1998.
“I can only tell you what our portion is,” Walkiewicz said. “We currently get 45 percent of what we pay to St. Mary.”
Noting that the schools will receive an additional $12,000 for an anti-smoking campaign this year, Schools Superintendent Constantino Scerbo said the district is contracted to St. Mary Giants Steps program. Pries is an employee of St. Mary, and gets her salary paid through that program.
Scerbo, however, said the school district gets more than Pries’ counseling expertise.
“We also can send students to St. Mary to be tested or if they need a referral visit,” he said. “[Giant Steps] provides service throughout the year no additional charge. St. Mary is also funded through state and federal government to do this.”
As a student’s assistance coordinator, Pries’ duties, Scerbo said, involve prevention and counseling, on drug-related issues as well as other programs.
“She works with individuals at the school and with groups,” he said, noting that her duties go beyond the grant into work with school’s Child Study Team.
Other issues
In other Board of Education business, the board hired, on Feb. 14, additional substitutes for 2001-2002 school year. They also hired two bus drivers, a special education teacher and teacher assistant, and two employees as cafeteria help and authorized the superintendent to enter into an agreement with Strulowitz & Gargiulo, licensed physical therapist to provide therapy service.
The board’s Technology Committee reported on a demonstration for wireless computers in Huber Street School. Board Member Michael Schlemm said the committee was looking into wireless units in order to avoid the costly upgrade required for rewiring older classrooms. This would be for stand-alone units, not network computers.
Board Member Edward Rittberg said the Shared Services Committee would be meeting on Feb. 25 with town officials to hammer out an agreement for the sale of school land to New Jersey Transit. Rittberg also said he had reviewed new speed signs for near the school with Michael Gonnelli, superintendent of the Secaucus Department of Public Works, but may need an ordinance from the town to reduce the speed from 25 to 15 miles per hour on Huber Street.