Toms River District Lauds Former Prosecutor Farley For School Drug Program Efforts

Years ago, Terrence Farley and two other officials came up with a plan to try to get students and parents talking -- about drugs and the dangers of peer pressure.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the transitional forums created in the Toms River Regional School District are still having an impact on students as they move from elementary school to middle school, and from middle school to high school, district officials said.

After a recent round of the forums, students were asked about their reactions to them, said Assistant Superintendent Debra McKenna, as she described the impact the programs have had.

“The most important thing they talked about was the conversations in the car on the way home,” McKenna said, during the presentation in which Farley was honored by the Toms River Regional Board of Education Tuesday evening. Those conversations between parents and students are critical to combating drug and alcohol use among teens, she said.

It was for those efforts that Farley, who served as first assistant Ocean County prosecutor for 15 years and is an icon in the fight against illegal drug use, was honored by the board, McKenna said.

“His passion and commitment to our (anti-substance abuse) programs provides us with hope,” she said.

“This was not a one-person job,” said Farley, who serves on the DART Coalition of Ocean County, where he was honored last summer for his service to the community, and on the board of directors of Drug Watch International. But he expressed gratitude that the efforts were recognized.