Duncan rebuts budget criticisms on Web site BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer "This is my effort to provide clarification. We have been unfairly criticized and chastised publicly, and we do need to move on. I feel that we need and deserve the public's trust." - Barbara Duncan Schools Superintendent HOLMDEL - Following a tumultuous and strife-ridden week between the Board of Education and Township Committee, representatives from both sides are still trying to set the record straight. The issue started once the Board of Education filed an appeal with the township concerning a funding question that was defeated during last month's school board elections, in which the overall budget passed for the third consecutive year. The board had a small window of opportunity to file the appeal and did so with the feeling that it had nothing to lose, and the money was too important not to try, according to Schools Superintendent Barbara Duncan. On May 12, when the Township Committee denied the appeal, Committeeman Terence Wall stated that the $3.2 million in a discretionary account could be considered to fund items in the separate question. Wall also posted a list of recommendations and analysis of the budget on his campaign Web site, holmdelmatters.com. At the following Board of Education meeting on May 16, Duncan said there were inaccuracies being circulated about the budget. "This board has taken an undeservedly bad beating recently," Duncan said. "This is my effort to provide clarification. We have been unfairly criticized and chastised publicly, and we do need to move on. I feel that we need and deserve the public's trust." Duncan went on to speak about how her administrative team worked diligently on the budget for many months leading up to the April 16 election and how the Township Committee was "faced with a tough decision" concerning the appeal. In the days after the meeting, Duncan posted an over 1,450-word statement on the front page of the district's Web site discussing the misperceptions and misunderstandings of all that had transpired. Along with the statement was a link to a memorandum, discussing the failed referendum. On Monday, Wall stood by his criticisms of the way the appeal was handled. "It's as if she was criticizing the taxpayers, on a Web site that really is paid for by the taxpayers," Wall said. "In a sense, she really is attacking the people." Wall went on to say that the whole back and forth "is silly at this point. To use the Web site for this sort of thing is just wrong." Wall also criticized Duncan and Business Adminis-trator Michael Petrizzo for not being present at the May 12 meeting because they were instead at a seminar. "You don't choose a seminar over failed referendums," Wall stated. "At the very least, a well-versed substitute should have been there. The board did not have anybody equipped to answer questions that the people may have had. "I really do feel like the people have moved on, but perhaps Barbara Duncan has not." When asked if the recent hype surrounding this issue has anything to do with his candidacy for Township Committee in the June 5 Republican primary, Wall pointed out that he has nothing to do with the way the calendar is laid out. "The school elections were in April and the appeal was in May. The primary election is not happening until June," Wall said. "I have nothing to do with the way things are scheduled. It has nothing to do with it and it has zero bearing on my campaign." Duncan said that she plans on moving forward and may look toward grants and fundraisers to secure the money needed to help fund the failed question at the polls.