Long Beach Island school board approves sale amendment after split vote

The Long Beach Island Board of Education on July 23 approved a second amendment to the contract to sell district property to Michael Pagnotta Architecture, PC, setting a June 2025 closing date and reducing the purchase price by $800,000.

Board counsel Dennis McKeever reviewed the amendment’s main terms for the board: a closing in June 2025, an $800,000 decrease in the purchase price, a contingency requiring removal of an existing, known, properly decommissioned oil tank on site, and a provision that the buyer’s deposit be held in an interest-bearing account. The motion was made by board member Brielle Hoffacker and seconded by board member Danielle Hagler; it passed on a 5–2 roll-call vote. Board members Kelly Linkewich, Kristy Raber, Hoffacker, Danielle Hagler and President Colette Southwick voted in favor; Dr. Chung and Mr. Schragger voted no.

The sale attracted public questions earlier in the meeting: members of the public asked about the purchase-agreement expiration, the amendment, and the district consolidation date. During general public comment after the board’s announcements, residents questioned the reduction in sale price and requested more detail on the construction timeline and parent-facing updates.

The board’s action leaves the sale contingent on the oil-tank removal and other closing conditions spelled out in the amendment; the transcript records the board’s vote and counsel’s summary but does not record additional specific commitments or a new public timetable for construction or consolidation. Closing is scheduled for June 2025 unless the contingency conditions are not satisfied.