JOINT STATEMENT BY THE WALL TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION

AND THE WALL TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE

May 17, 2005

The Wall Township Board of Education and the Wall Township Committee are in complete agreement on matters involving the cooperation which must exist between our School District and our Police Department.

As a matter of District policy, the Board has reaffirmed its commitment to follow the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) between the Wall School District, the Wall Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor. The MOA requires certain clearly defined, serious incidents and offenses to be reported to the police department, yet recognizes that there are other matters best left to the educational system.

The MOA provides a framework for cooperation and communication between our School District and our Police Department. The Township Committee and the Board of Education agree that a high level of cooperation and full and open communication serve the best interests of the community and, most important, the best interests of our students. The Township Committee has reaffirmed its policy, and that of the Wall Police Department, to work closely with the School District and to fulfill its responsibilities under the MOA.

The Board has now been provided with detailed information as well as police records and reports which substantiate the accuracy of the incidents and now understands the reasons for the Township’s frustration. The Township Committee, however, now understands that the Board has never before been apprised of the police reports.

Now that the Board has had the opportunity to review the details of those incidents it will insure that this problem is not repeated. The Board of Education and Superintendent have taken the following steps to insure that all incidents are reported in accordance with the MOA by the entire staff:

1. All staff have received and acknowledged an encapsulated version of the MOA.

2. Copies of the MOA are located in the main office of each school and are available for viewing on the school’s website.

The Board and the Police Department will cooperate with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office to make any necessary additional training available to our staff.

The Township Committee and the Board believe that we live in a great community and that the high quality educational system we provide for our students is one of the many things that make Wall Township such a desirable place to live. We will continue to work together to improve the level of cooperation and communication between the Township government and the School District and will continue our liaison meetings at least quarterly for that purpose.