Recently, the Middletown Township Board of Education has shared with the Middletown population their plans to shut down three schools: Bayshore Middle School and Leonardo and Navesink elementary schools. Hundreds of parents are enraged about this decision, many even trying to get into the recent Board of Education meeting at High School North to voice their opinions.
The drive behind shutting down these schools is the crumbling financial status of the Middletown public school system. According to the superintendent, the student population in Middletown has dropped from over 10,000 to 8,500 since 2009 which has severely impacted the district’s access to funds. If these schools don’t shut down and the district doesn’t relocate the students from the at-risk schools, they would have to cut 120 staff positions, which isn’t a much better solution. If this happened, some student activities and programs would have to be cut (like certain transportation and extracurriculars like elementary band).
On March 21, superintendent Jessica Alfone sent out a letter to the community announcing dates and times for parents to voice their concerns and have a discussion about options for the district. She wrote, “After reflecting on this week’s Board of Education meeting and the feedback from the community, the administrative team and the Board of Education are actively working on vetting further alternative options to eliminate a significant shortfall in next year’s budget.”
Hopefully the board, alongside Middletown parents, can come up with a solution that protects the district’s most valued programs, teachers, and schools.