By Chris Rotolo
SEA BRIGHT – Though tax relief may be a welcomed byproduct of school regionalization, for borough parents and Mayor Brian Kelly, transitioning students to a new school district is a source of anxiety he and the borough council will address during a special Oct. 3 meeting of the governing body.
“The only apprehension I’ve heard about from residents, parents – and as a parent, I’ve felt it too, to some degree – is that transition away from our current school district,” Kelly said in a Sept. 26 interview with The Two River Times regarding a proposed all-purpose K-12 school district that would include students from the boroughs of Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Sea Bright.
“I completely empathize with the idea being a source of anxiety for our parents. We don’t have a huge amount of families with school-age children, but for the residents who are, this is very real, and it’s where the bulk of the apprehension is stemming from,” Kelly added.
Sea Bright students are currently enrolled in the Shore Regional Public School District, which receives the bulk of its enrollment from Oceanport, Monmouth Beach and West Long Branch.
Borough students travel to Oceanport to attend Wolf Hill Elementary school from kindergarten through fourth grade, before graduating to Maple Place School for grades five through eight. Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch is where students receive the remainder of their secondary education.
The proposed regionalization plan would allow Sea Bright students to merge with those currently enrolled in the Henry Hudson Regional Tri-District to create a new all-purpose K-12 district, a proposition Kelly said his community appears willing to welcome, as long as there is minimal disruption to the educational journey of its students.
“Both school districts are highly regarded and highly rated. If we do transition, we would be very happy with the education our students would receive. What we need to figure out is, if we were to transfer our students, what would that look like, and what would make the most sense for the wellbeing of our students,” Kelly said.
According to Kelly, the current state plan for the proposed regionalized district would allow any Sea Bright student to remain in their current Shore Regional district school until their promotion year.
“This something that hits close to home because I do have a son in Wolf Hill. If this plan, as it’s currently constituted, was to be approved before he was out of Wolf Hill, he would be able to stay in place and finish out his time there,” Kelly explained.
“Any high school aged students would also be able to ride out their time (at Shore Regional) and then graduate with their class,” he said.
“That being said, it doesn’t necessarily have to happen this way. It’s what the state plan includes right now. But assuming it goes through, there could be other options available to our families,” Kelly added.
Residents are encouraged to attend the October town hall meeting to learn more about student transitions and potential options, among other updates, including where Sea Bright currently stands in the process.
Kelly said the three neighboring boroughs – their governing bodies and boards of education – are still engaged in the economic negotiations of the plan, but he believes the three communities “will reach common ground.”
In June, Kelly told the Two River Times it was the goal of each borough council to put a referendum before the voters on their respective November ballots. However, due to ongoing negotiations, that question may need a special referendum vote as the deadline for placing a question on the November ballot has passed.
The notion of a new regionalized school district gained traction in January 2019, when each borough agreed to make a $20,000 financial commitment toward a study to investigate the feasibility of the idea. The study began in 2020.
In May 2021, the Henry Hudson Regional Tri-District received a $65,000 Local Efficiency Achievement Grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to conduct a parallel feasibility study.
The results of both studies were made available over the summer, and prompted the local elected officials in each borough to take next steps in the process.
The article originally appeared in the September 29 – October 5, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
