Parents urge Middletown to intervene after Board of Education votes to close neighborhood schools

Dozens of parents and residents pressed the Middletown Township Committee on March 16 to intervene after the Board of Education voted 5–4 to close three neighborhood schools.

Kristen Rooney, a Middletown resident and property owner, told the committee the board’s action “threatens the existence of several district schools” and warned that closures would depress home values and harm local businesses. “Decisions about schools are not just education decisions. They directly affect the economic stability and fairness of our entire community,” Rooney said.

Other speakers cited school performance and community ties. Amanda Farriar, a parent at Navisink Elementary, said Navisink ranked in the top tier of state elementary schools and participated in a Rutgers State Policy Labs project. “Schools like Navisink should be protected, studied, and learned from, not closed,” Farriar said, adding that a recent state funding announcement reduced the district’s projected shortfall and that the remaining gap was “now just over $2,000,000.”

Several parents focused on process and timing. Carrie Christiansen, a Navisink parent, criticized the board for voting on closures before presenting a budget or transition plan and said the board failed to explain why the plan was necessary. “They voted to close these schools prior to ever even seeing a budget,” Christiansen said.

Speakers framed the closures as a disproportionate response to a small budget gap. NICU nurse Katie Littlepage compared shuttering schools to an “extreme procedure” and urged leaders to choose the least invasive options to address the shortfall. Resident Bernie Doss said the district’s previously reported $3.2 million deficit was reduced after recent state aid and described the remaining amount as manageable with strategic planning.

Parents raised practical concerns about capacity, traffic and class size if students are consolidated. Andy Oatridge asked the committee to consider traffic impacts and the feasibility of moving up to 1,000 additional students into existing buildings; other commenters warned class sizes could rise from about 21 students to the high 20s, a change they said would harm instruction.

Several speakers asked the township committee to use its influence with the Board of Education. Nick Ficaro urged the committee to contact Board President Chris Aveda directly and to get involved in shared-service discussions with the district. Mayor Perry acknowledged he and other committee members had held conversations with district officials and said he had received information that “educated me on things I wasn't aware of,” but no formal township action directing staff to intercede was recorded in the transcript.

The public comment period closed after extended remarks. The Board of Education retains authority to adopt or alter the closure plan; speakers urged the township to demand transparency, consider alternatives and work with parents to avoid what they called irreversible community harm.

The committee took no formal vote on the school-closure plan during the meeting; the public portion closed and the committee adjourned.