Middletown, NJ would have to drastically raise taxes to save schools from closure

💲Parents were upset at the initial plan to close or consolidate 4 schools

💲The BOE will present a plan that would keep the schools open but raise school taxes 10%

💲No final vote will be taken until April when the budget is due

MIDDLETOWN — Parents in one of Monmouth County's largest school districts are upset at plans to close three schools to deal with a budget shortfall.

In its budget presentation on March 18, the Middletown Board of Education proposed rezoning or closing three schools. According to the plan, which would save the district $4 million:

• The Bayshore Middle School would close, leaving just the Thorne and Thompson Middle Schools.
• The Leonardo Grade School and the Navesink Elementary School would merge into the Bayshore Elementary School, which would be housed in the former Bayshore Middle School.

The plan was met with anger by parents who accused the Board of Education of blindsiding them and keeping them from being heard by holding the meeting in a library that had limited capacity. An online petition posted at change.org called the plan "unjust and DUMB" and sought signatures from "parents, alumni, students, and even people who are unfamiliar with the schools."

A second petition demands "a moratorium on all school closures and rezoning efforts until the community has been fully engaged in the decision-making process."

Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday called the budget in Middletown "personal" because he lives in the township, and said it would be a highly emotional issue for any district facing a budget shortfall.

"You don't willy-nilly talk about closing the school without a lot of emotion. 'That's where I grew up. That's where I walked to school. That's where I played football,' whatever it might be. And so this stuff's hard. The math does not lie," Murphy said.

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Higher taxes keep schools open

It seems there may be a way to keep the school open, but it will cost.

The state Department of Education told the district that if the town is willing to pay a steep increase in taxes, the schools could remain open, according to a letter to the school community from Middletown schools Superintendent Jessica Alfone. Combined with 4.88% tax increase already included in the new budget, school taxes would have to go up another 5.2%.

The first of four informational sessions is planned for Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at High School North. Three more are planned for March 31 at the Thompson School, April 9 at High School North and April 10 at High School South. The sessions will be live-streamed on the district's YouTube channel.

Board Vice President Jacqueline Tobacco told New Jersey 101.5 that Middletown is one of 20 districts that are considered to be "under adequacy" and are allowed to increase their taxes. It essentially means that the district lacks sufficient financial resources to meet basic obligations.

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Kicking the can down the road?

Tobacco warns that the tax is a one-time measure and doesn't help with the funding formula for the following year.

"It only just kicks it down the road another year, which is kind of what we've been doing. We've kind of been finding these stop gaps to make up the budget deficit and the loss of state aid all along the way." Tobacco said.

Tobacco said that other past "one-time" measures included selling a building to the county and switching to self-insurance.

Tobacco said that she understands the anger but added that the board didn't receive their numbers from the administration until two weeks before the plan.

Tobacco was disappointed to see "save our schools" signs and demands to fire the superintendent.

"It's terrible because really, there couldn't have been a better superintendent and a better board to actually make some real change. It's a lot," Tobacco said.

She hopes voters attend the forums about the proposals.

"The hope is that it's productive, that there's viable ideas talked about. We want people to feel heard. We want the emotions to calm and everyone to make kind of rational decisions. It's hard to keep making decisions that are only good for the moment," Tobacco said.

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