Will Small .17 Percent Become A Big Number At Atlantic City BOE?
.17 percent is a tiny fraction of one percentage point.
Something that is this small, rarely has a major impact on any issue.
But, this is Atlantic City that we’re talking about.
This tiny fraction, which represents just 17 percent of the number 1, could leave Ventnor City, Margate City and Brigantine without representation on the Atlantic City Board of Education.
The New Jersey state legislation that governs this issue allows for one sending district board member when the combined number of students totals at least15 percent of the Atlantic City High School student population.
Currently, Ventnor City, Margate City and Brigantine falls just short of this required percentage, coming in at 14.83 percent.
In the game of life, this is merely a rounding error and we should just give them the rounding-up to the required 15 percent.
However, the Small administration is aggressively trying to hold the line and remove the current Ventnor City Board Member, who presently sits on the Atlantic City Board of Education.
A similar issue occurred a number of years ago when Senator William Gormley was in office.
It was Gormley who successfully had the state legislation revised to include the 15 percent combined sending district population consideration.
The reason is simple. The sending districts send millions of dollars to the City of Atlantic City each year. They deserve representation on the Atlantic City Board of Education.
Ventnor City alone pays the Atlantic City Board of Education more than $ 4 million per-year in tuition.
It’s akin to “taxation without representation.” It’s not right. It’s not fair. This unjust action must be stopped
It’s also not the neighborly thing to do for Atlantic City to pursue the removal of the current Ventnor representative.
Senator Vince Polistina is working this equity issue very hard at the present time and told us that “We are on top of this and will not rest on this matter until we help ensure that Ventnor, Margate, Longport and Brigantine retain their rightful representation on the Atlantic City Board of Education,” said Polistina.
We will be personally reaching out to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in the near future to seek his intervention in this present controversy.
Governor Murphy had surgery yesterday, so we want to give him a chance to properly recover before burdening him with what should be a non-issue in the first place.
Murphy is a fair and reasonable man. We have a high degree of confidence that he will do the right thing.
In the end, the decision is really a simple one. Is 14.83 percent really that much different than 15 percent?