Toms River Board of Education wants to hear your feedback

Things are changing as the leaves continue to fall and colors brighten up the autumn season, leading to reflection and contemplation of what happens in the future.

The Covid-19 pandemic certainly led to everyone calling audibles at the line of scrimmage to find ways to keep things safe, healthy and balance a budget.

Many schools have started virtually to begin the 2020-21 academic year with others having a hybrid or in-person schedule in place with the hope that everyone will be learning in school buildings by sometime in the upcoming year.

Even prior to the pandemic and certainly moving forward, there are challenges for many school districts for various reasons including the S2 School Funding Formula which for baseball fans is like adhering to the analytics that shape who, what, where, when, how and why but for academics.

The Toms River Regional School District, one of the largest in the entire state, was dealt a dagger over the school funding formula.

Superintendent David Healy announced his retirement recently which will take affect in January, so there will be a new leader for Toms River Schools next year.

Things are changing and a new plan needs to be devised to help boost the Toms River Schools system with making sure teachers, coaches and administrators have everything they need to succeed as well as students moving forward.

In light of recent events, the Toms River Board of Education is setting up a series of virtual meetings and releasing a survey to get your input and feedback for the school district.

Where do Toms River Schools go from here?

"It is the board’s hope that stakeholders will use these opportunities to share what they appreciate about our district and to help our leaders understand how they can better serve the community in the future," Toms River Schools spokesman Michael Kenny said in a statement Friday.

Kenny said there was a staff-only version of the 2020 Toms River Regional Schools Survey was issued by the board to all TRRS staff members this week with the community version of the survey being shared via email with school families.

You can also access the survey here if you are a family with children in the district or other community stakeholders.

For the upcoming virtual meetings, Kenny said stakeholders can participate either by video or phone call, with each speaker receiving three minutes.

Each session, outside the one for TRRS staff, will be capped at 45 participants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

"In an effort to hear from as many community members as possible, each stakeholder will only be permitted to speak once. If there is incredible demand, the board will add sessions," Kenny said.

Meetings will be streamed and will be available for the public to view on the district’s YouTube channel.

Community members interested in participating can RSVP via the community survey or call 732-505-5500, extension 500005 or 500007.

Here are the virtual meeting dates:

● Oct. 15, 3 p.m.: for ALL staff only

● Oct. 16, 3 p.m.: for TRRS families with children in the district

● Oct. 19, 6 p.m.: for TRRS families with children in the district

● Oct. 20, 6 p.m.: for TRRS families with children in the district

● Oct. 22, 6 p.m.: for community members without children enrolled in the district

● Oct. 23, 3 p.m.: for TRRS families with children in the district

You can follow Vin Ebenau on Twitter and Instagram and email news tips to vin.ebenau@townsquaremedia.com.

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