By Sunayana Prabhu
SEA BRIGHT – A unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for the borough to pursue a new prekindergarten through grade 12 regional school district, allowing the borough to petition for a withdrawal from the two school districts its students now attend.
Currently, borough students in kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Oceanport schools; students in grades nine through 12 attend Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch.
Sea Bright has been exploring the creation of a new pre-K to 12 regional school district with Henry Hudson Regional School District, which enrolls students from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands. The idea coalesced in 2020 and was presented to the two boroughs by Sea Bright officials, who believed all three communities could benefit both educationally and financially from the creation of a new school district. A 2020 feasibility study undertaken by the borough confirmed the benefits.
The court ruled in favor of the borough’s petition for the proposed new regional district in a unanimous vote Dec. 8. “We hold that a municipality in Sea Bright’s position is a governing body authorized to pursue withdrawal from a school district to form or enlarge a regional school district,” Justice Anne M. Patterson said in the court documents.
“We are looking forward to see what opportunities this flexibility will bring,” Mayor Brian Kelly said Dec. 16 in response to the court ruling. However, he stressed that the decision “does not change anything for Sea Bright families at this point in time.”
Sea Bright officials and supporters have said the ruling clears a procedural path that could eventually lead to a referendum, but multiple layers of legal, administrative and voter approval remain before any change in district alignment is finalized.
Legal Proceedings So Far
Sea Bright has not operated its own school or board of education for more than a decade. Until 2009, the borough functioned as a nonoperating district, sending students in kindergarten through eighth grade to Oceanport schools and high school students to Shore Regional. That year, Sea Bright formally dissolved its district and continued its sending arrangement with the Oceanport and Shore Regional districts.
In 2022, Sea Bright adopted a resolution seeking to withdraw from both Oceanport and Shore Regional and to pursue regionalization with Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and the Henry Hudson Regional School District.
In 2023 and 2024, Oceanport and Shore Regional challenged Sea Bright’s authority to withdraw after the state education commissioner ruled the borough was authorized to pursue an exit. But Sea Bright was removed from a potential merger plan amid those objections shortly before voters in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands approved their own regionalization with Henry Hudson beginning in 2024.
The Superior Court, Appellate Division, later upheld the commissioner’s decision, and the New Jersey Supreme Court has now unanimously affirmed that ruling. Sea Bright is permitted under state law to pursue withdrawal, subject to further approvals and a potential referendum that would also require voter approval in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands.
Officials Respond
The Shore Regional Board of Education issued a press release Dec. 12, maintaining that, despite the court ruling, it did not say “Sea Bright can leave the Shore Regional and Oceanport School Districts. In fact, the Court explicitly made no determination as to whether Sea Bright met the criteria for withdrawal.”
This will eventually be determined by the commissioner of education, the statement said, should Sea Bright proceed to file a petition to exit.
In its ruling, the court determined that Sea Bright was authorized by state statute to pursue withdrawal. According to the court documents, school-regionalization terms such as “merged” and “consolidated” were created to promote consolidation and regionalization and were not intended to hinder leaving.
But the Shore Regional board argued that, “Before Sea Bright would be eligible to withdraw from Shore Regional and Oceanport, the Borough must first resolve numerous intermediate steps.”
Meanwhile, Sea Bright Mayor Kelly said the earliest realistic timeline for the next steps in the process would likely be the fourth quarter of 2026, though it depends on several factors.
He also noted potential financial implications for borough taxpayers. According to Kelly, Sea Bright has 33 students – nine at Shore Regional High School and 24 in Oceanport schools. The current annual per-pupil cost for attending the Oceanport School District is $35,000, while the average annual cost per student at Shore Regional is almost 10 times that at nearly $300,000, according to Kelly.
“We have completed economic analyses in the past that will need to be updated in the near future. I’ll wait for any updated studies, but any change to the Shore Regional-style formula will have significant positive implications for Sea Bright taxpayers,” Kelly said.
The past feasibility study projected that each municipality (Sea Bright, Atlantic Highlands and Highlands) would have its total tax levy reduced by at least $450,000 with a regionalization. “Such savings will have a significant impact on each community’s ability to continue to provide exceptional services, while maintaining taxes at a reasonable and affordable level,” the study read.
The mayor also addressed concerns raised that a district change could separate siblings into different school systems or prevent students from attending high school with classmates they met in earlier grades.
“In a case where Sea Bright forms a new district and pulls away from Shore Regional, students would finish the school they are attending before transitioning to a new district,” Kelly said. “In the case where there are siblings in different grades or schools, I think it’s safe to say we would try to give them the option to stay with siblings if that was possible. That would be decided at a later date based on what options exist.”
Some Sea Bright residents have hailed the ruling as a major milestone. Kelly said it has validated Sea Bright’s ability to explore new regionalization options under recent state legislation.
“I think it’s good to reaffirm that our attorneys, professionals, council and other potential partners were correct in our belief that the recent state school legislation permitted us to consider forming a new school district with other willing towns and school districts,” he said.
He also noted that any actions suggested by the borough will be shared publicly. “I recommend coming to our borough meetings, and also following our website and any other publications relating to our schools,” Kelly said.
The Shore Regional board said it is committed to maintaining educational programs and will continue to participate in legal proceedings to ensure compliance with state law.
“Shore Regional’s duty to its students, and the community it serves, demands nothing less,” the statement said.
The article originally appeared in the December 18 – 24, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
