c° 3 ^ u> hrontrb Vol.'114, No. 4 Thursday, January 24, 2002 50 cents Dxins no risk, neighbors told By OREO MARX fears to rest. the site is now being renovated layer synthetic material that is There is some groundwater THE CHRONICLE Though the soil and ground- as a public golf facility. The Hyatt impermeable to water. The bad contamination in the Cranford water at the site is contaminated Hills Golf Commission, appoint- soil — concentrated in the south- portion of the site, however, said CRANFORD - with heavy metals, chemicals, ed annually by Clark and west area of the site, near GM's representatives. Three Representatives of General and other remnants of the Hyatt Cranford, will administer the go]f Central Avenue — was then cov- monitoring wells located on the Motors' environmental remedia- Clark plant that once stood on course, but General Motors will ered with 4 to 22 feet of clean site near Walnut Avenue and tion team told the public Tuesday the site, said Alan Van Norman of own the land beneath the course soil. Raritan Road have shown the contamination at the Hyatt Hills Conestoga, Rivers & Associates, and remain responsible for its The Department of "sporadic" presence of contami- site does not pose a health risk to which is assisting GM with environmental safety. Environmental Protection has nants above non-residential area residents. But unsatisfied cleanup on the site, the contami- The contaminated soil on the verified there is no contaminated standards; also, there is potential GEORGE PACCIELl 0u/ officials and residents again nation "does not jeopardize pub- site, said Tom Fralick of environ- soil on the Cranford portion of for the flow of contaminated STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER called upon GM to test neighbor- lic health." mental testing firm URS, has the site, Fralick and Van Norman groundwater away from the site, Greg Donofrio hugs his dad ing properties and put residents' b5en "capped" under a multi- said. after becoming the first-ever A formal industrial location, (Continued on page A-2) Cranford wrestler to win 100 matches. See story on B-5. Special-ed Around Girls right Town funding Transformer fire at home with disrupts service coming, CRANFORD — A trans- former fire Jan. 13 disrupted but not power service to more than their studies 1,000 area homes, and left four residences without power for nearly a full day. Cranford family decides to school quickly The failure of the trans- NICOLE DIMELLA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER former, located near r>\\\\Aftyr\ \t\ tl"i<aiv nnxn \\r\-ma. Karen Yuschak home-schools her daughter Katie, a high school fresh- ByGREGKUVRX Lexington Avenue on the LIlllUICll 111 IIICII UWIl llUIIlC man. in their Cranford home. THroPPE CHRONICLHpnMTP,rE south end of the township, By GREG MARX A new state law will give local was caused when an animal THE CHRONICLE school districts some relief from came in contact with a power skyrocketing special-education line, a PSE&G spokesperson CRANFORD — At 11 a.m. on costs — but not as much, or as said this week. The interfer- any given weekday, Katie quickly, as they had hoped. ence caused a fire at the Yuschak, 15, and her sister The law, sponsored last year in transformer and damage to Becky, 12, might be sitting the Assembly by now-Sen. multiple lines in the area. around their dining room table, Richard Bagger, requires the Local public safety agen- or at the computer on the porch state to reimburse districts cies and PSE&G employees of their South Union Avenue whenever the out-of-district responded to the scene, and home. Or they might be in their tuition cost for a special-needs within an hour power had rooms, curled up on the bed with student exceeds $40,000 in a sin- been restored to 1,056 affect- a terrier in their laps. gle school year. ed homes, the spokesperson Truants? Not quite. Katie and A special-needs student is sent said. But four homes sus- Becky are two examples of a out of a district when the local . tained direct damage, she growing trend in education — schools can hot adequately meet • said, and were without power home-schooling. So, laid out the student's educational for 21 hours as the company across that table are projects and requirements. The sending dis- repaired the damage to the binders, and tucked in their arms trict is responsible for tuition, lines and . installed a new alongside the dogs are books on transportation and other costs transformer. Shakespeare's plays or medieval associated with the student's Europe. education. Four years ago, the girls' par- Currently, local school dis- Firefighter awarded ents, Karen and Paul, pulled tricts can apply for relief when them out of parochial school to tuition costs for a student exceed Medal of Honor begin home-schooling. Their $40,000, but districts typically CRANFORD — The town- motivation, as it is for many receive only partial reimburse- ship Tuesday night honored home-schooling parents, was to ment. When the new law takes its many public safety work- make their religious beliefs more effect, it will require full reim- ers who helped respond to central to their children's educa- bursement for costs over $20,000. the Sept. 11 attack, and tion, and to have more direct That could make a big differ- awarded firefighter Michael moral influence. ence to some local districts. Vajda the Departmental "God is the center of our life Cranford last year applied for Medal of Honor for his work (and) speaking of faith in schools $142,000 and received only in the wake of the tragedy. is not acceptable," said Karen. NICOLE DIMELLA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER $57,000 in aid, or about 40 per- And while home-schooling is not Becky, left, and Katie Yuschak use a computer to research a project. The Cranford girls are home-schooled cent of its request. Kenilworth Vajda, a member of the right for every family, she said, by their mother, Karen. also received only partial reim- New Jersey Urban Search "there were some real character "We wanted to lay a founda- bursement for its $108,000 in and Rescue Team Task Force issues we wanted to see cement- same subjects, they often take mom and I have an understand- costs over $40,000. One, participated in the res- different approaches according to ing. When you first come out of a tion for character development" ed in the girls... we wanted to Garwood currently has no spe- cue mission at Ground Zero. have primary influence." their learning styles. "And they school, it's hard to be with your not compromised by "other peo- ple's values," said Bob Stevens, cial-needs students for whom He worked 12-hour shifts for So since then Karen has never get to the point of failure, mom that many hours... but we 11 consecutive days "at great because you cover the material talk all the time. She's one of my who teaches English at Scotch tuition costs exceed $40,000. taught.her daughters at home, Plains-Fanwood High School. "This is a step in the right risk for personal injury," said using interdisciplinary unit until they get it." friends." Fire Chief Leonard Dolan in "All the time we're learning," "From a parent's perspective, "Wr wanted to give our kids a direction," said Kenilworth Board study curriculums that provide of Education Business presenting the award. wide reading in Western litera- said Katie; Becky says their days, it's wonderful," said Karen, faith-based education, and to convey our moral standards and Administrator Vincent Gonnella; Dolan could not recall the ture and history and traditional which can include up to 10 hours because children "are encour- "any increase (in aid) would be last time the fire department math and science lessons. When of work, are much harder than aged... to help their siblings." convictions," agreed his wife, Rebecca. very helpful" Robert Carfagno, had awarded a Medal of the subject matter and religious her friends realize. The girls are The Yuschaks belong to his counterpart in Cranford, Honor, but said, "it's been beliefs clash — as with evdlution studying subjects at or above Christian Homeschoolers of They, too, feel the approach agreed. awhile." — the girls learn both. their grade level, and score above Union County. Another family in has instructional benefits. "I'm But in some ways, the bill is a Vajda was also presented a The result, the Yuschaks say, average on the standardized the group, the Stevenses of South able to give them 100 percent of disappointment. The aid will be plaque by Police Chief Harry has been an educational success. tests they take every other year. Plainfield, chose home-schooling myself, 100 percent of the day," phased in incrementally over Wilde, director of the "You can select the curriculum Also, Katie says, "the majori- for their young daughters (ages said Rebecca. "I feel like I get a several years, with full aid Emergency Management that fits your child," said Karen; ty of kids (my age) want to get 6, 4 and 2) for many of the same lot more done" than a teacher in delayed until 2007. And to-getthe Committee, recognizing his while Katie and Becky study the away from their parents, but my reasons. (Continued on page A-2) bill passed amidst the state bud- "professionalism, dedication get crisis, its supporters had to to duty and courage." agree to push back all increases Wilde also recognized with in state aid until the 2003-2004 citation bars the police and Kenilworth votes to put cop in schools school year.