Resident urges Bayonne School District to open Junior Bees program to all town residents

Miss Sharon, a resident and volunteer coach, told the Bayonne Board of Education the Junior Bees program should be open to all Bayonne residents regardless of whether children attend public or nonpublic schools. "I feel it should be open to everybody because they do have the potential to come here to this school," she said during public comment, arguing the program serves the community and may encourage students to enroll in Bayonne High School.

Sharon said she coaches track and learned some children were excluded because they attend nonpublic schools. She cited the board's statement that "the Bayon board of education has adopted and promoted the community education concept since 1975," and asked that residency, not school enrollment, determine eligibility. She also noted she was unsure whether program funding or staffing restricts participation and asked the board to review those constraints.

Board members did not take an immediate vote or action on Sharon's request during the meeting. Earlier in the session the board approved routine business and the superintendent's consent agenda (curriculum A1–A6; personnel B1–B27) by roll-call vote. Sharon commended district coaches and highlighted recent athletic scholarship recipients from Bayonne High School as an argument for expanding access.

Sharon concluded by asking the board to "include the rest of the community," emphasizing that many families who pay taxes and live in Bayonne attend Catholic or other nonpublic schools and should be eligible to participate. The board thanked the speakers and moved on; no formal directive or policy change on Junior Bees was recorded at this meeting.