Hilda Jaffe was president of the Verona Board of Education during the 1968-1969 school year, when Verona decided to host 40 Newark elementary school students in our schools. Verona’s so-called Sharing Program grew out of the involvement of a group of residents in local civil rights efforts in the wake of the Newark uprising of 1967. The Sharing Program led to deep divisions in town, both during the school year and for many years thereafter.
Jaffe has been trying to help the Verona of today understand those times. She has spoken with students at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School and Verona High School, and on Sunday, March 1, at 3 p.m., she will deliver a presentation at the Verona Public Library.
Daring To Be Different, a book about the busing decision published by the late Verona resident Kurt Landsberger in 2001, is available in the Verona Public Library.
