By Stephen Appezzato
WEST LONG BRANCH – Residents of Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Sea Bright and West Long Branch overwhelmingly voted “no” to Shore Regional’s March 11 bond referendum.
As of press time, unofficial results on the Monmouth County Elections website show just 493 voters supported the bond, while 2,116 voted against it.
That outcome halts the high school district’s plans for extensive renovations to infrastructure, facilities and classrooms on a campus where 70% of the original 1960s school building is still in use.
In a statement posted on its website following election night, Shore Regional acknowledged the initial referendum results and noted, “Additional mail-in ballots and provisional ballots will be counted as the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office completes and verifies the results.”
“The Board of Education thanks all voters for making their voices heard. The Board and district administration will gather community feedback before revisiting how to best address our building needs,” the statement concluded.
In the lead-up to the referendum, Sea Bright’s legal team sought an injunction to halt the vote, arguing, in part, that the referendum violated state school laws and regulations and the state constitution. Sea Bright has a petition pending to withdraw from the school district and hold a separate referendum asking residents if they want to regionalize with the Henry Hudson Regional School District.
“The voters spoke and are not interested in these referenda for Shore Regional until the situation with Sea Bright is finally resolved. This should not be a surprise,” said attorney Vito Gagliardi Jr., managing principal at Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., who represents Sea Bright in school matters.
“We have a petition pending (to leave Shore Regional), which is why the referendum was improper,” Gagliardi claimed.
On March 5, Monmouth County Judge Owen McCarthy struck down Sea Bright’s complaint, but put the sale and issuance of any bonds on hold until the matter was further resolved.
As voters did not approve the $51 million project, Gagliardi said Sea Bright would move to dismiss the matter without prejudice. If Shore Regional initiates another bond referendum, Sea Bright can refile the suit. “It’s not a surprise to Sea Bright that voters don’t like being asked to have their taxes raised without specific details on how much the taxes are going to be raised,” Gagliardi said.
Before the referendum, concerns arose about Sea Bright’s pending status, and who would service its portion of the proposed debt if it left the district.
“Decision makers, at the end of the day, are going to be the voters of Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright, and that’s what the officials of Sea Bright and Highlands have been working towards. It’s not getting Sea Bright out of Shore Regional and getting them into Henry Hudson, it’s fighting to let the voters decide that very issue. So, we are continuing to work toward that day,” Gagliardi said.
If the $51 million referendum had been approved, property owners in Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Sea Bright and West Long Branch would have had to pay $37 million over the next 20 years, while state funding would cover about $14 million. Within the scope of the infrastructure project, officials proposed numerous upgrades to facilities, like replacing the auditorium and gym floor, constructing an auxiliary gym, upgrading the school’s STEAM lab and media center, overhauling the building’s HVAC and plumbing systems and more.
The article originally appeared in the March 13 – March 19, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
