Advanced Knee Pain Treatment in Manalapan, NJ

The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education on Tuesday adopted a policy of parental notification regarding transgender students.

Patch Staff

TRENTON, NJ – The state Attorney General is moving to block a policy on parental notification involving transgender students enacted just this Tuesday by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education.

The same action is being taken against the Marlboro Board of Education that adopted a similar policy, also on Tuesday.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Thursday the filing of Division on Civil Rights complaints challenging what it termed "unlawful policies" enacted this week by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional, Marlboro and Middletown Boards of Education.

The policies enacted by these three Boards of Education require school staff in these school systems to notify parents of the gender identity or expression of transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary students, the office said in a statement.

In the policy enacted by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional Board of Education, when a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” the school must “notify a student’s parents or guardian of the student’s asserted gender identity.” It also states that for “students in grades Pre-K through 5,” the “responsibility for determining a student’s gender identity rests with the student’s parents/guardians,” rather than with the student.

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Platkin and the Division of Civil Rights have also filed emergency motions in Superior Court, requesting preliminary injunctions and temporary restraints to prevent all three of the policies from going into effect while DCR’s challenges to the policies remain pending.

The Manalapan-Englishtown district said it had "no comment on the suit at this time," when reached for a response.

The meeting Tuesday was attended by many people opposed to the policy but also had supporters of the parental notification policy. You can read about the meeting - and the Marlboro meeting - here. There are links in the story to the full policy.

The state action alleges that all three of the policies violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

As the complaints assert, the policies enacted by the Middletown, Marlboro, and Manalapan-Englishtown Boards "expressly target transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender non-binary students by singling them out for differential treatment, requiring parental notification for those students but not their peers," the Attorney General's office says.

The complaints also assert that the parental notification policies have "disparate impacts on transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary youth."

"By imposing a requirement that school staff must 'out' these students to their parents, the policies expose these students to the potential for severe harms to their safety and mental health. The policies also disregard and contradict guidance from the New Jersey Department of Education concerning the confidentiality and privacy of such information," the office says.

“In New Jersey, we will not tolerate any action by schools that threatens the health and safety of our young people. Without question, the discriminatory policies passed by these Boards of Education, if allowed to go into effect, will harm our kids and pose severe risk to their safety,” said Platkin. “Simply put, these policies violate our laws, and we will not relent in protecting our LGBTQ+ community—especially our children—from discrimination.”

In addition to filing administrative civil rights complaints, the state is seeking temporary restraints and preliminary injunctions from the Superior Court to prohibit the Boards from implementing the policies while the administrative complaints are pending.

The requested injunctions from the court would preserve the status quo during the litigation and thereby ensure that school officials are not forced to “out” transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary students to their parents while the administrative complaints are pending, the state says.

The requested injunctions would not prevent school staff from notifying parents about concerns unrelated to Law Against Discrimination-protected characteristics, nor would they prevent school staff from complying with Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) policies, or other similar reporting requirements designed to protect students’ safety.

“School policies that single out or target LGBTQ+ youth fly in the face of our State’s longstanding commitment to equality,” said Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights. “Our laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, plain and simple, and we will not waver in our commitment to enforcing those protections.”

The policies challenged today were all enacted on Tuesday, June 20. The policy enacted by the Marlboro Board of Education provides that the school district is required to notify parents or guardians of any student’s “change in gender identity or expression.”

It also eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that the school address students by their preferred name and pronoun; the new policy now permits the district to deviate from a student’s preferred name and pronoun when “a parent/guardian of a minor student disagrees with the student regarding the name and/or pronoun to be used at school.”

The new policy similarly eliminates the requirement under prior Marlboro policy that all students are entitled to access school facilities in accordance with their gender identity.

The policy enacted by the Middletown Board of Education provides that where a student “requests a public social transition accommodation,” such as a name or pronoun change, a bathroom or locker room accommodation, or club or sports accommodation, the school is obligated to “notify a student’s parents or guardian” of the student’s “asserted gender identity.”

The transgender policies of the three Monmouth County school districts directly defies the NJ Department of Education's own policy on transgender students, which says parents do not have to be informed of what their child does in school regarding gender.

The enforcement actions announced today follows a civil rights complaint and application for temporary restraints filed by Attorney General Platkin and DCR challenging a Hanover Township Board of Education policy that likewise required school staff to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents. The litigation challenging that policy remains pending. The Superior Court, however, has temporarily restrained the Hanover Township Board of Education and the school district from enforcing that policy while it considers the matter.

the Division of Civil Rights is the state agency responsible for preventing and eliminating discrimination and bias-based harassment in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation (e.g., places open to the public like schools, businesses, hospitals, etc.).

Local Editor Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.

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ENGLISHTOWN-MANALAPAN, NJ — The Englishtown Borough Council has authorized the town to enter into a shared services agreement with Manalapan for its Department of Public Works services.

Mayor Daniel Francisco said the agreement still has to be approved by the Manalapan Township Committee, but it is expected to become effective April 1.

Manalapan Mayor Mary Ann Musich said the proposed agreement will be discussed at the Manalapan Township Committee meeting on Wednesday. "I think it will be mutually beneficial," she said on Friday.

As part of the agreement, the Englishtown Council voted in a special meeting March 5 to dissolve the Englishtown Department of Public Works and its positions. Francisco said the DPW department has recently been down to just one employee. The vote was 4-2.

The borough will keep its DPW equipment for potential other uses and maintain the equipment, he said.

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He said working with Manalapan has been a positive experience. "They've been very gracious," he said, adding that the provision would allow the borough to restore its own DPW if it chose to in the future.

He said the agreement is for $100,000. It would enable the borough to receive such services as leaf and snow removal, but would also give it access to other functions in Manalapan's department, such as the sign shop and access to equipment such as a stage to be able to put on festivals in the borough.

That, Francisco said, would help in the Borough Council's goal to offer more community events.

Also, Manalapan has a patcher to repair potholes and the agreement would also give borough residents access to the more comprehensive Manalapan recycling facility, Francisco said.

But he emphasized that not all the details are worked out as yet, however he said the agreement "is invariably more affordable than having a fully staffed DPW."

Francisco said the dissolution of the borough department was not on the council's horizon, but that "purely various circumstances" presented themselves to make it a more viable option.

The borough does not handle waste management services through the DPW, but rather has a garbage utility using a private contractor for garbage removal. Residents are billed separately for that, Francisco said.

MANALAPAN, NJ — Customers in Western Monmouth can look forward to a Nordstrom Rack nearby - but not until next year.

The Seattle-based retailer announced plans to open a new Nordstrom Rack in Manalapan in spring 2025.

The other Nordstrom Rack in Monmouth County is in Eatontown, on Route 35. The other Nordstrom presence in Monmouth County - Nordstrom at Freehold Raceway Mall - closed in 2020.

Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, Inc., and offers customers up to 70 percent off "on-trend" apparel, accessories, beauty, home and shoes from many of the top brands sold at Nordstrom stores. Nordstrom Rack is the largest source of new customers to Nordstrom, the company says.

The 26,000-square-foot store will be located in Manalapan Commons, a shopping center that includes Best Buy, Panera Bread, Five Below, PetSmart and Raymour & Flanigan.

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"We look forward to being a part of the Manalapan Township community and serving our customers with an amazing offering of great brands at great prices," said Gemma Lionello, President of Nordstrom Rack Stores. "We're excited to grow our footprint in the region and introduce new customers to the Nordstrom experience."

Manalapan Commons is owned and managed by Urban Edge Properties and is located off of Route 9 and Craig Road.

"Nordstrom Rack brings fashion to this center for the first time, broadening its appeal to the surrounding community," said Leigh Lyons, senior vice president of leasing for Urban Edge. "We received interest from several large tenants before deciding to proceed with Nordstrom."

Lionello said that customers will be able to have online order pick up from both Nordstrom.com and NordstromRack.com at the planned location.

The company operates four Nordstrom stores and Manalapan would make nine Nordstrom Rack stores in New Jersey, generating more than 1,500 jobs statewide, it said.

Nordstrom said it also gives back to the community.

For the past four years, Nordstrom, with its customers, has donated nearly $2 million in support of its long-term partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the United States. These proceeds support the recruitment, training and engagement of adult mentors and "Bigs and Littles," including preparing for an interview, learning to tie a tie and helping with homework, the company said.

Nordstrom started as a shoe store in 1901, the company said, and a "heritage of service has been the foundation we're building on."

There are more than 350 Nordstrom, Nordstrom Local and Nordstrom Rack locations, and, digitally, the Nordstrom and Rack apps and websites, the company said.

Urban Edge Properties has 76 properties totaling 17.1 million square feet of leasable area in the New York area. For more information, visit https://www.uedge.com.

MANALAPAN, NJ — All is aglow at Lights on Glendale, where the Antanies family of Manalapan offers the community a chance to get in the holiday spirit - and give to good causes.

The lawn and garages at the house are laden with lights synchronized to music, holiday figures and various Christmas vignettes - a Nativity, Santa's Workshop and Disney themes.

Vintage 1950s animatronic figures are in action, too, and a North Pole sign can make you think, at least for a moment, that you've been transported.

"It's a lot of work - and stressful. But we do have fun!" Vanessa Antanies said, happily describing the show created by her husband Nick and herself. It has been on display since the day after Thanksgiving.

As for the donations, Antanies said there is a jar (a large one) for cash donations to St. Jude's Hospital. There is also a QR code visitors can scan to make a donation by credit card.

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The show also supports a local charity for foster children, We Are Loved, and collects PJs and slipper socks and other warm, cozy item for the kids. There is a bin there to deposit those donations.

The house is at 13 Glendale Drive, off Taylors Mill Road. The shows are every night, weather permitting, from 5 to 10 p.m. You can check the Lights on Glendale Facebook page for cancellation for weather.

The show will go on to Jan. 7, so there are lots of opportunities to go. And Antanies said she encourages visitors to park and walk through the displays.

Look for visits from Santa, Mrs. Claus, Buddy the Elf - and even the Grinch - on the weekends. There is also a Santa Letter drop box and every letter submitted gets a return letter back from Santa. To complete the fantasy, there's snow from a snow machine at times.

And Antanies said while visitors are in Manalapan, they should visit Maple Leaf Farms on Route 9 for the farm's Christmas Wonderland.

The owners are family friends, she said, and the show there also helps a good cause, raising funds for a pet shelter, Antanies said.

Patch and T-Mobile are partnering to help you compile a list of lights around the Manalapan area that deserve a drive-by. Email patricia.mcdaniel@patch.com and let us know the address. Also please send a photo (that you took yourself) to appear in our holiday roundup!

Shoppers rejoice! One of those storefronts empty since the shuttering of New Jersey-based Bed Bath & Beyond has landed a new, beloved tenant.

Nordstrom has announced it will be opening its newest Nordstrom Rack in New Jersey by spring 2025.

The designer retail giant offers overstocked and other high-end items at its Rack locations and its shopping app.

This location in Monmouth County will be the ninth Nordstrom Rack store in NJ.

Adding in four "full-line" Nordstrom stores, the company is responsible for more than 1,500 jobs statewide.

Manalapan Commons, on the southbound side of Route 9 near Craig Road, has been chosen as the site for the newest Nordstrom Rack.

The shopping plaza managed by Urban Edge Properties already houses Best Buy, Five Below, PetSmart, Panera Bread and a Raymour & Flanigan Outlet — which took over the space of a former Babies R Us.

Another empty storefront, once an A.C. Moore, seasonally becomes a Spirit of Halloween store in the same complex.

New Jersey’s first Nordstrom Rack store opened in 2008 at Bergen Town Center in Paramus.

The four NJ Nordstrom stores are at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, Menlo Park Mall in Edison, Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold and Short Hills Mall in Short Hills.

Nordstrom Rack is the company's off-price retail division, with merchandise made up of products from Nordstrom stores and the company's online store at Nordstrom.com, as well as specially purchased merchandise.

Items are offered at retail savings of up to roughly 70% on apparel, accessories and items for the home.

Nordstrom Rack customers are also able to order items online for pick up from both Nordstrom.com and NordstromRack.com.

"We look forward to being a part of the Manalapan Township community and serving our customers with an amazing offering of great brands at great prices," according to Nordstrom Rack Stores President Gemma Lionello.

She added "We're excited to grow our footprint in the region and introduce new customers to the Nordstrom experience."

In addition to the new Manalapan location, here are the other Nordstrom Rack stores in New Jersey:

Somerset County

362 Chimney Rock Rd, Bound Brook, NJ 08805Phone: 732-627-3000

Camden County

951 Haddonfield Rd Ste A, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002Phone: 856-773-4111

Monmouth County

231 Highway 35, Eatontown, NJ 07724Phone: 732-676-7200

Mercer County

3371 US Highway 1, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648Phone: 609-524-2625

Essex County

530 West Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039Phone: 973-629-6100

Bergen County

510 Bergen Town Center, Paramus, NJ 07652Phone: 201-518-2170

Morris County

343 Mount Hope Ave, Rockaway, NJ 07866Phone: 973-620-6100

Passaic County