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Students could return to Highlands school used as shelter

Written by Kevin Pentón
@kevinpentonAPP

HIGHLANDS — Before the end of the week, Henry Hudson Regional High School students may be able to take the place of dozens of people sheltered at the borough site, officials said.

As early as Wednesday, those sheltered at the school could be transferred to Fireman’s Fieldhouse in Atlantic Highlands, the mayors of both municipalities said.

While Atlantic Highlands has long been willing to offer the location as a potential shelter, the site did not qualify because it does not have shower facilities, Mayor Frederick Rast said.

That changed on Monday, when state Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Jr. managed to secure a mobile shower facility, Highlands Mayor Frank Nolan said.

The fieldhouse, which last served as Atlantic Highlands’ temporary library when Borough Hall was undergoing repairs last year, could likely accommodate 30 cots, Rast said. It has a kitchen and bathrooms, he said.

On Sunday night, there were 37 people using Henry Hudson as a shelter, said Tim Hill, Highlands’ administrator.

The shelter’s population is down from 130, when most people were without power and heat, Nolan said. The mayor anticipates the number may continue to go down.

Atlantic Highlands’ Office of Emergency Management and the American Red Cross would need to tour the fieldhouse and certify it as an eligible shelter site, Nolan said. Up to 17 support staff would need to be housed separate from those at the shelter, O’Scanlon said.

Obtaining the necessary approvals or finding the housing for the support staff should not be impediments from housing those who need shelter and returning students to school, Nolan said.

“We can’t let something like that stop us at this point,” Nolan said. “As of 4 p.m. today, we’ve got the showers, which was the key missing point.”

Before Monday’s development with the showers, there was the question of how much longer Henry Hudson students would have to go without school. Many of those at the Highlands shelter have resisted previous efforts to move them to other shelters in the county, as it would place them further away from their community.

Although the new shelter would be in the adjoining community of Atlantic Highlands, Highlands would work on providing regular transportation to those at the shelter who wish to return to their properties during the day to continue cleanup and recovery efforts, Hill said. Many of those at the shelter lost their vehicles to the storm, he said.

One temporary option under consideration by the Highlands Board of Education had been to relocate those at the shelter to Highlands Elementary School, shift Highlands’ elementary school students to Atlantic Highlands Elementary School, and reopen Henry Hudson, O’Scanlon said. With the shower development, O’Scanlon said he hoped this would only be an option of last resort.

After going into executive session on Monday to discuss the situation, the Highlands Board of Education chose to do nothing on the matter.

“These kids have got to be back in school,” said O’Scanlon, who secured the shower trailer after making numerous calls to OEM directors and other officials knowledgeable of the situation. “Sometimes it takes three calls, sometimes it takes 50 calls. Whatever it takes.”

Kevin Pentón: 732-643-4009; [email protected]