Parents, volunteers say district is denying field dates and banning families from games

At a public comment session of the Township of Ocean School District Board of Education meeting, Casey Zimmer, vice president and treasurer of the Ocean Township Dolphins Pop Warner nonprofit, and other residents urged the board to approve four dates for the Pop Warner group to use the high school field and asked the board to lift an alleged ban on a family from attending varsity football games.

The issue matters, residents said, because it affects children's access to local, low-cost sports and volunteers' ability to support youth programs. Zimmer said the organization requested “4 dates for use of the high school field. 4 dates. And yet, even those reasonable requests have been denied. Why?”

Zimmer told the board the Dolphins offer “a free opportunity for our youth” and argued denying the requested dates “sends the wrong message.” He said his family has been banned from attending varsity football games, that the group has not been given “due process,” and that district staff have been slow to respond to emails and phone calls. “When we finally fought hard enough after 5 long months of being ignored and trying to get a meeting, we were belittled and accused of things that are simply not true,” Zimmer said.

Lou Gaudius, who identified himself as from Oakhurst, echoed Zimmer: “We can't believe that this ban is even standing. We've been, like Ms. Zimmer stated, we've never caused a problem at a football game in our life.” Gaudius said he was told the ban related to an incident in which another parent “took a swing at me,” and that he is being barred from attending games despite the other parent being the one sanctioned.

An earlier resident commenter raised concerns about the district's facilities-use approvals and the fees and days being granted to other organizations. That speaker cited specific line items she said were on the agenda, including “a hundred and 86 days for basketball times 2 at 2 schools, and we're only paying $300,” “17 days for AYF cheer programming,” and “55 days that we're approving tonight, allegedly, for Ocean United Soccer” at $150. She questioned whether some participants are not Township residents and asked why a volunteer, free program was denied four days when other groups received more access at low cost.

Speakers referenced district policy number 9160, “public attendance at school events,” and questioned whether its application — including bans from events — should be decided by the full board rather than by an administrator. Zimmer said the policy “should have been done by the board, not Missus Weldon,” and asked that decisions affecting attendance be handled with due process.

Board members who presided over public comment repeatedly reminded speakers to observe decorum but did not announce an immediate decision on the field-date requests or the alleged bans during the meeting. The record shows public comment was the forum in which the requests and complaints were presented; the transcript does not record a board vote or motion resolving those requests during the session.

Residents also raised secondary concerns: a claim that meeting minutes were not posted earlier in the day and a question about why the district is transporting children from Lock Harbor — speakers asked whether that busing should be approved given past litigation, but the transcript contains no administrative response on transportation during public comment.

The board did not render a decision on the field-date request or on the allegations about bans and communication during the portion of the meeting recorded in the transcript. Staff and board members did not provide a formal timeline or next steps on the record for resolving the requests.

The public-comment exchange closed with repeated requests from the Dolphin organization for the four dates the group said were requested in March and with residents asking the board to restore access and improve communication.

Looking ahead, the transcript shows the district did not resolve these items during that meeting; the record does not show any formal votes or administrative rulings on the field requests or the alleged bans.