The story of Manville is the story of America — resilience, hard work, compassion for neighbors and a never-ending ability to pick oneself up after repeatedly being knocked down. Its name comes from the long-closed Johns-Manville asbestos factory, giving the town the nickname The Asbestos City. The factory, which was shut down in 1986, provided jobs for many in the town, but also exposed workers to toxic levels of asbestos. Today, some residents still suffer from increased rates of asbestos-related diseases, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.
Manville also sits in an area prone to severe flooding, when ever-frequent heavy rains cause the Raritan and Millstone Rivers that border the town to overflow their banks. During my first visit to Manville in 2016, a few months after I was first elected to the New Jersey Legislature, I joined residents who were shocked and angered when the Army Corps of Engineers came to a meeting to announce that they had decided that the flood-prone areas of Manville were not worth saving.
Fast-forward to 2021 when President Joe Biden flew to New Jersey to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida and his first stop was Manville’s Lost Valley, where flood risks are so high and long-promised financial relief continually delayed, that families are now faced with an impossible decision to either repair their devastated homes themselves, find the money to elevate them, or apply for a buyout and wait in their damaged home until relocation assistance is eventually offered.
Despite all of this, Manville continues to move forward, the population is growing, new businesses have opened downtown and the student population has grown from 1,400 to nearly 1,800 students in the last few years — largely immigrant families from Latin America and blue-collar workers.
For too long, Manville was overlooked or ignored, but recently that has started to change. For example, the local VFW Hall, Thomas J. Kavanaugh Post 2290, remains one of the cornerstones of the community, for honoring our veterans, hosting various celebrations or housing the local Red Cross shelter when there is a disaster. Now, through a partnership with Mayor Richard Onderko and the leadership in town, we found state funding to repave the parking lot and fix the leaks in the roof.
Meanwhile, Manville School District has seen an influx of state funding since Gov. Phil Murphy and the Legislature committed to increasing underfunded school districts like Manville. Recently, I had the tremendous privilege to see firsthand how the town has utilized this increased funding to better serve its students and it was a magical morning. The moment I walked in the door of the high school, I was immediately greeted by a cohort of dedicated teachers, amazing students and passionate administrators and we went to see many of the infrastructure improvements, learn about changes to the sports, mental health, special education, and music programs and talk about their plans for the future.
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In 2017, the Manville school district’s entire operating budget was just under $22 million dollars. Now, the district receives over $23 million in aid from the state and the total budget is more than $50 million, all without raising property taxes. When I asked a Board of Education member how her time on the board has changed, she noted that 11 years ago the meetings were about how to keep the lights on. Now, they are hiring 20 new teachers, thoughtfully creating important administrative positions and funding long-needed capital improvements ranging from a stunning new gymnasium and athletic fields to new music rooms and a renovated auditorium where I had the pleasure of listening to the high school choir perform a song they perfected in the first nine days of school. The key takeaway is simple, and one we already know — when we invest in children and give them the resources to produce excellence, they do not disappoint.
It is a privilege of a lifetime to play a part in bringing on such transformative change and I am grateful to every parent, student, teacher, faculty, caring community member and colleague who has fought for our children to experience this level of excellence.
State Sen. Andrew Zwicker represents New Jersey's 16th District.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Opinion: Manville's resilience is powerful. It's a microcosm of the American dream
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