The Middlesex Borough School District announced that it has been awarded two competitive grants — the LIFT grant and a five‑year coach grant — and the board approved a job description for a literacy coach that the district says will be funded by the coach grant.

District leaders said the coach grant’s remaining years total $2,800,000. Board President Danielle Ferrante noted on the agenda that the district had submitted both grants in August and was later notified it had been selected as a recipient.

The grants, administrators said, are intended to provide additional services to students identified as needing support and to help more students meet New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Superintendent Roberta Freeman and business administrator Annette Giordano congratulated staff for securing the awards.

Resident and former grants staffer Natasha Rouse, who addressed the board during public comment, praised the district’s planning and urged that the grants be used to increase family engagement. “The LIFT grant offers that opportunity,” Rouse said. “High schools need to understand what it means to not just write a college essay, but how to write, period.”

At the meeting the board approved the literacy coach job description (item 9.12). Committee and board discussion clarified the action approved only the job description; board members said the vote did not establish or post the position. The district described the coach position as funded by the coach grant; the board recorded a roll call vote in favor of the personnel package that included the job description.

District officials said they expect the grant-funded positions and family‑engagement activities to support literacy and instructional coaching across grades. The superintendent also noted upcoming events tied to family engagement and district information systems.