Faced with a $3 million deficit that is only expected to get worse, the Middletown Board of Education recently voted to close two elementary schools, angering parents and students.
The school board voted 5-4 during a tense and confrontational meeting on Feb. 26 to direct officials to develop a budget that anticipates closing Leonardo and Navesink elementary schools.
“What concerns me most about the proposal is not just the proposal itself, but how we got there,” said school board member Mark Soporowski. “We are talking about closing the school because of years of financial mismanagement and a failure to plan for the long term.”
Last year, the Monmouth County School Board approved a 10.1 percent tax increase to save two schools and Bayshore Middle School. But this draconian measure is not enough to offset the deficit.
Instead, it is a “temporary bridge” to buy time, officials said in a recently released restructuring plan. If the status quo is maintained, the district could face a deficit of nearly $14 million by the end of the decade.
Under the reorganization plan, Leonardo and Navesink will merge into one school, called Bayshore Elementary School. Students at Bayshore Middle School will be rezoned to two nearby middle schools, Thorne and Thompson.
Officials said in the restructuring plan that the closures are expected to save the district $3.5 to $4 million annually. Bayshore Middle School was not mentioned in the resolution members voted on Feb. 26.
But Soborowski and other board members opposed to the closure said the plan lacked a comprehensive strategy to address the district’s fiscal crisis and would lead to overcrowding. They say the fiscal crisis has been known for years but officials have failed to take appropriate action to address the problem.
“There is no plan,” school board member Erin Torres told NJ.com. “Every question I asked about the program got a general answer.”
Torres, who joined the board this year, said rising health insurance premiums and other factors have contributed to the growing budget deficit. But she added that it was unclear exactly what caused the crisis.
“I do know that this has been happening, they have been using one-time revenue sources to fill their budgets,” Torres said. “And it’s not being dealt with as well as it should be.”
If the district, which has nearly 8,800 students and expects tax increases of just 2 percent annually, continues on its current path, it will still face a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in the coming years, district officials said.
Board Chairman Chris Avita did not respond to a request for comment.
Compounding the problem is a shift in leadership in the region. Superintendent Jessica Alfond announced last month that she will retire at the end of the school year to pursue education-related opportunities in the private sector.
Her Feb. 12 letter did not address the district’s fiscal crisis.
During the meeting’s public comment period, students urged board members to keep the school open and share their and teachers’ stories of what it means to them.
The meeting lasted more than five hours and was interrupted by members of the public who shouted and booed some board members.
“We’re not just fighting for one school,” one parent said. “We serve all schools.”
The recently released restructuring plan is closely tied to “Midtown Reimagining,” the district’s controversial plan to restructure the district amid a looming budget shortfall.
At that time, it was strongly opposed by all sectors of society.
new jersey.com Staff writer AJ McDougall contributed to this report.
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