By Emily Schopfer
MIDDLETOWN – Middletown parents took their school-closure objections from the meeting room to the streets of Leonardo March 15. A large crowd of parents, students, community members and organizers formed a sea of blue, walking nearly a mile loop from Croydon Hall, past Bayshore Middle and Leonardo Elementary – two of the three schools facing closure – and back while chanting “Middletown united, we won’t be divided.”
The community initiative Save Middletown Schools (also known as Save Our Schools) began in March 2025, when the board of education (BOE) first floated the possibility of school closures due to a budget deficit. They organized the rally following the Feb. 26 BOE meeting, where members voted 5-4 to close three schools. Under the current plan, Bayshore Middle School, which currently enrolls 534 students, would be converted into an elementary school to house students from Leonardo Elementary School (284 students) and Navesink Elementary School (209 students), which would both close; the middle schoolers would transfer to either Thorne Middle School or Thompson Middle School.
According to Kristin Rooney, event speaker and one of seven Middletown parents involved in a pending lawsuit against the BOE, Joan Minnuies was the only board member present at the rally. Minnuies was one of the four board members to vote against the closures.
“Why are we talking about closing schools as the first option? Surely, there’s another way,” Rooney said during her kick-off speech at the rally. “What about overcrowding at the middle schools, or the tiny kindergartners in a school that’s not meant for them. How can our special education students – in a bigger classroom – be treated with complete disregard?”
Rooney said the situation “makes perfect nonsense,” adding that she and the community “will no longer tolerate the reckless way our district is being run.”
Students being affected by the closures also spoke during the rally.
Roan Young, a Bayshore Middle Schooler who has been outspoken at BOE meetings in the past, talked about his admiration for his teachers.
A Leonardo Elementary student called the proposal “just ridiculous. They just want to close our schools for no exact reason,” he said.
“This plan doesn’t make any sense,” said a student speaker from Bayshore Middle School. “This board doesn’t care about us. We feel unheard, but today, let us be heard.”
Eric Dowell, a Middletown parent, estimated that more than 200 parents, kids and community members turned up for the rally. It was “absolutely a success – showing up as community, making it seen and heard,” he said.
A day after the rally, over a dozen parents voiced their concerns at the March 16 township committee meeting, where many pleaded with committee members and Mayor Tony Perry to get involved.
Rooney told Perry and the committee that when schools thrive, towns thrive. Such school closures could lead to “education deserts, places where young families are less likely to move, invest, and build their future,” which will “depress home prices, and result in closures of local business, harming our tax base, and putting pressure on other parts of town to make up for the shortfall.”
“Giving us three months’ notice that schools are closing is completely unacceptable, irresponsible, immoral,” said parent Kristi Montgomery.
Carrie Christensen, a parent of two Navesink elementary schoolers, said the school board is “dysfunctional” and unwilling to discuss alternatives or answer questions. “We don’t think there’s not a problem,” she said. “We understand there is. But when there’s a budget deficit of 1%, you don’t shut down your 13th-top-rated school out of 2,006 elementary schools (in the state) and overcrowd your middle schools.” In the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings, Navesink Elementary is No. 13 in New Jersey and No. 1 in Middletown Township for elementary schools.
The BOE reported a budget deficit of over $3 million for the 2026-27 school year, but recently released state Department of Education figures indicate the district will receive a 6% increase in aid from Trenton over last year, bringing new aid to $15.7 million for 2026-27 and reducing the district’s budget deficit to $2 million. Many parents at the March 16 meeting argued that a $2 million deficit does not warrant these closures.
Board of education members did not respond to requests for comment by press time; however, board member Caterina Skalaski did address public concern during the Feb. 26 meeting. “Continuing to delay difficult decisions only increases uncertainty and can create even greater challenges for our students, family and community in the long run,” she said.
March 18 marked one year since the board of education first publicly proposed the idea of school closures to remedy a nearly $10 million gap between the district’s revenue and its operating expenses. After strong parent opposition, it instead chose to levy a 10.1% tax increase on Middletown residents.
The next district board meeting, originally scheduled for March 17, will be held at 7 p.m. March 24 in the Middletown High School North auditorium.
The article originally appeared in the March 19 – 25, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
