By Stephen Appezzato
MIDDLETOWN – The Middletown Township School District could generate an additional $8.37 million in revenue for the upcoming school year through local taxes to help shrink an approximately $10 million funding gap for the 2025-2026 school year. But will residents favor a tax hike over school closures and redistricting?
Earlier this week, school officials informed the public the district qualified for a new tax incentive program that would allow it to generate revenue from an additional 5.2% hike in local taxes, posing an alternative to the Middletown Reimagined concept that was pitched at last week’s board of education meeting. The increase would be implemented on top of the 4.88% tax levy tentatively approved for next year’s budget, bringing the total school tax rate to about 10.1% for the 2025-2026 school year.
At the March 18 board of education meeting, Superintendent Jessica Alfone presented the school district’s tentative $197 million budget, revealing a $10 million shortfall. To close the gap, the district pitched the closure of two elementary schools and the repurposing of the current Bayshore Middle School building into the Bayshore Elementary School for those students. Middle school students who attend Bayshore would be redistributed to Thorne and Thompson middle schools. Alfone said the alternative option could require laying off around 120 school staff members, increasing class sizes, cutting transportation for athletics and reducing athletic and extracurricular offerings, among other cuts.
But in a letter sent to residents March 24, she informed the school community of a third option to shorten the budget gap – a tax increase.
Alfone wrote that the district received information from the New Jersey Department of Education indicating it has qualified for a new tax incentive program that helps eligible districts generate revenue. “There are a limited number of districts in the state that have qualified based on their financial progress towards adequacy, and is a product of realizing greater efficiencies in our budget over time,” Alfone said in the letter, noting the news was not “disseminated” in time for the March 18 tentative budget proposal meeting. In addition to allowing the additional 5.2% tax increase, the district is eligible for up to $418,648 through a state aid incentive for next year.
“If the application is approved, the district would be eligible to raise taxes an additional 5.2% combined with the 4.88% tax levy tentatively approved in next year’s budget for a total of 10.1%,” Alfone said. The board’s proposed tax levy had already exceeded the state’s 2% cap.
Community Forums Underway
In the lead up to the board of education’s final vote on next year’s school budget, slated for the end of April, the district is hosting a series of community forums for residents to share their concerns and ideas around solutions to the budget gap, the first of which occurred March 26.
The second forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. March 31 at the Thompson Middle School gymnasium; the third will be April 9 in the Middletown High School North auditorium; and a fourth will be April 10 in the High School South gymnasium. The forums will also be livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel.
Following the March 31 forum, the district will distribute a survey for the community to provide feedback, and the Board of Education will hold a special executive session April 8.
“Following this meeting, alternatives will be shared with (the) community. The final two forums will be for the community to express feedback on alternatives to balance next year’s budget and ensure a path forward for the future,” Alfone said in a separate letter March 21.
At last week’s budget presentation, Alfone noted several factors contributing to the district’s budget crisis, like long-term reductions in state funding.
Alfone also said enrollment in the district has declined in recent years, with projections indicating no foreseeable short-term growth. Additionally, multiple school buildings will require system upgrades and repairs, among other improvements.
Residents, Legislators React
Residents started a “Save Middletown Schools” website, plus Change.org petitions lobbying against school closures and called for an independent audit of the school district.
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-13), who represents Middletown, also voiced his discontent with the situation, criticizing “the Murphy administration’s continued lack of school funding reform.”
“The school funding formula was outdated ten years ago. We could have reformed it, prevented these cuts, made the whole system more fair and slashed our structural deficit at the same time,” O’Scanlon said in a statement.
“The breathing room we had over the last few years provided by the massive amount of federal dollars could have been used to right our fiscal ship. Instead the money, and the once in a generation opportunity, were squandered.” He blamed Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration and “the Democrats who control the legislature.”
The board of education will greenlight a plan at the end of April.
The article originally appeared in the March 27 – April 2, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
