Post by admin on Aug 9, 2006 17:59:48 GMT -5
Expert says voters' values must be sought by board
Freehold officials have not decided on third referendum
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Matching values between school officials and community members is everything when a school district is trying to get a construction referendum passed.
That's what communications professional Tony Fulginiti told Board of Education members at a July 24 meeting.
Fulginiti teaches at Rowan Univer-sity, Glassboro, in the school's Public Relations/Advertising Department.
He was brought to the meeting by retired school superintendent Bob Sopko of DEI Design Enterprises, Aberdeen, in an effort to help the board develop ideas that might convince voters to support a $7.8 million construction referendum which to date has been rejected twice by the electorate.
The referendum seeks to create a new multipurpose room and three additional classrooms at the Freehold Learning Center; renovate the library-tech center at the Freehold Learning Center; renovate the Park Avenue Elementary School, including the conversion of a storage room to create a speech therapy room and the conversion of the administrative offices into two classrooms.
The board has also sought voter approval to build a modular home or to buy a small house on Park Avenue to serve as the district's new administrative offices.
[glow=red,2,300]Both times, in December and again in April, voters shot down the referendum. [/glow]
Board members have said the construction projects are needed to accommodate rising enrollment. The borough's three schools enroll a total of about 1,400 pupils in prekindergarten through eighth grade. This fall the program for 4-year-olds will move to a church in the borough due to a lack of space in the elementary schools.
Sopko said no referendum is easy to pass, but he said there are various strategies and ways to find out what is effective to put before voters.
He said Fulginiti understands that emotions run deep in these situations. Sopko said he worked in Hopewell with Fulginiti and his sons, David and Sam, who are partners in their father's firm, ie communication.
Fulginiti's firm has helped school administrators devise winning referendums by various methods, including helping administrators to detect community values.
"We do research on failed referendums and find out why they failed. Sometimes it's as simple as finding out the right message to put out. Other times you need a whole task force to find the answer," Fulginiti said. "We don't tell you what to do. We offer options, advice and direction."
That advice and direction has worked in 53 out of the 55 school referendums that Fulginiti and his team have help to pass.
According to Fulginiti, hiring a consultant to run a referendum can provide time and resources that a school district cannot.
"You're not expected to know how to do everything," he said.
According to Fulginiti, research is the heart of the ie communication process to pass a school referendum. A research study will show board members how to find out what happened in the last two failed referendums.
"The community owns the schools. School boards and administrators have temporary custody of the community's two most important assets - their children and their money," Fulginiti said. "Passing a referendum hinges on one thing - how you plan to react to the two failed referendums and what action you plan to take to move forward on passing another one. The Holy Grail of everything we do is to address be-havior."
He said the three most important areas to be considered are the voters' heads (what they know), their hearts (what they feel) and their hands (what they are willing to do).
"Matching values are everything. If the proposition has value but the voters' values do not match, it won't work," he said. "What does the community hold important? You need to get out of your heads and into the heads of the voters. You need to find out what's holding them back."
[glow=red,2,300]Information presented at the meeting indicated that hiring a consultant could cost the board anywhere between $2,000 and $20,000 for the referendum process. [/glow]
Business Administrator Veronica Wolf said board members will discuss the options available to them if it is decided to pursue a construction referendum.
Board President Jim Keelan said members of the Facilities Usage Com-mittee were still discussing options to address the children's needs. He said board members have not decided if another referendum will be placed before voters.
"We have to remember, though, that these problems are not going to go away," Keelan said.
The board president said one option that is available is to appeal the defeat of the referendum to the state Depart-ment of Education.
He said the commissioner of education has the power to impose the passage of all or part of the construction referendum project on taxpayers.
Keelan noted that this option would entail a lengthy process and he reiterated that the board has not made any decision at this point.
Freehold officials have not decided on third referendum
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD - Matching values between school officials and community members is everything when a school district is trying to get a construction referendum passed.
That's what communications professional Tony Fulginiti told Board of Education members at a July 24 meeting.
Fulginiti teaches at Rowan Univer-sity, Glassboro, in the school's Public Relations/Advertising Department.
He was brought to the meeting by retired school superintendent Bob Sopko of DEI Design Enterprises, Aberdeen, in an effort to help the board develop ideas that might convince voters to support a $7.8 million construction referendum which to date has been rejected twice by the electorate.
The referendum seeks to create a new multipurpose room and three additional classrooms at the Freehold Learning Center; renovate the library-tech center at the Freehold Learning Center; renovate the Park Avenue Elementary School, including the conversion of a storage room to create a speech therapy room and the conversion of the administrative offices into two classrooms.
The board has also sought voter approval to build a modular home or to buy a small house on Park Avenue to serve as the district's new administrative offices.
[glow=red,2,300]Both times, in December and again in April, voters shot down the referendum. [/glow]
Board members have said the construction projects are needed to accommodate rising enrollment. The borough's three schools enroll a total of about 1,400 pupils in prekindergarten through eighth grade. This fall the program for 4-year-olds will move to a church in the borough due to a lack of space in the elementary schools.
Sopko said no referendum is easy to pass, but he said there are various strategies and ways to find out what is effective to put before voters.
He said Fulginiti understands that emotions run deep in these situations. Sopko said he worked in Hopewell with Fulginiti and his sons, David and Sam, who are partners in their father's firm, ie communication.
Fulginiti's firm has helped school administrators devise winning referendums by various methods, including helping administrators to detect community values.
"We do research on failed referendums and find out why they failed. Sometimes it's as simple as finding out the right message to put out. Other times you need a whole task force to find the answer," Fulginiti said. "We don't tell you what to do. We offer options, advice and direction."
That advice and direction has worked in 53 out of the 55 school referendums that Fulginiti and his team have help to pass.
According to Fulginiti, hiring a consultant to run a referendum can provide time and resources that a school district cannot.
"You're not expected to know how to do everything," he said.
According to Fulginiti, research is the heart of the ie communication process to pass a school referendum. A research study will show board members how to find out what happened in the last two failed referendums.
"The community owns the schools. School boards and administrators have temporary custody of the community's two most important assets - their children and their money," Fulginiti said. "Passing a referendum hinges on one thing - how you plan to react to the two failed referendums and what action you plan to take to move forward on passing another one. The Holy Grail of everything we do is to address be-havior."
He said the three most important areas to be considered are the voters' heads (what they know), their hearts (what they feel) and their hands (what they are willing to do).
"Matching values are everything. If the proposition has value but the voters' values do not match, it won't work," he said. "What does the community hold important? You need to get out of your heads and into the heads of the voters. You need to find out what's holding them back."
[glow=red,2,300]Information presented at the meeting indicated that hiring a consultant could cost the board anywhere between $2,000 and $20,000 for the referendum process. [/glow]
Business Administrator Veronica Wolf said board members will discuss the options available to them if it is decided to pursue a construction referendum.
Board President Jim Keelan said members of the Facilities Usage Com-mittee were still discussing options to address the children's needs. He said board members have not decided if another referendum will be placed before voters.
"We have to remember, though, that these problems are not going to go away," Keelan said.
The board president said one option that is available is to appeal the defeat of the referendum to the state Depart-ment of Education.
He said the commissioner of education has the power to impose the passage of all or part of the construction referendum project on taxpayers.
Keelan noted that this option would entail a lengthy process and he reiterated that the board has not made any decision at this point.