'Questionable Findings' In District Merging Report: Central Regional

BERKELEY, NJ — A proposal that would have the Seaside Heights School District join the Toms River Regional School District was met with opposition from the Central Regional School District, where Seaside Heights currently sends their students.

A regionalization study, commissioned by the Seaside Heights Board of Education and Toms River Regional Board of Education, said that the two districts should merge, removing Seaside Heights from the Central Regional School District.

Under the proposal, Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School in Seaside Heights, where local students currently attend through sixth grade, would be closed and students would instead attend Toms River schools.

A 104-page study outlined the impacts of the regionalization said the proposal offers "distinct educational advantages for both districts and no identifiable impact, much less a substantial negative impact, on Central Regional if the small number of students from Seaside Heights (is) phased out."

READ MORE: Seaside Heights-Toms River School Regionalization: What It Would Mean

Understandably, Central Regional school officials are not pleased with the proposal, which has been endorsed by the Seaside Heights Borough Council and could be put to a vote as early as March.

"The feasibility report raises numerous questionable findings that ultimately will require legal clarification and further study by all impacted parties," the Central Regional Board of Education told Patch in a statement.

"Central Regional School District has no intention of allowing any neighboring school district to financially benefit at the cost of taxpayers in the remaining sending districts of Berkeley, Ocean Gate, Island Heights, and Seaside Park," the school board said. "The Central Regional School District remains deeply committed to ensuring students continue to receive a high-quality education, but the purpose of this study has very little to do with education."

According to the study, allowing Seaside Heights to withdraw would result in the loss of $1.8 million for Central Regional's remaining sending districts over the next six years, but it doesn't "constitute a substantial negative financial impact."

"The reduction in revenue is not substantial when compared to the overall size of the Central Regional budget as well as the overall size of its annual tax levy," the study said.

The district would also lose the state aid they receive for Seaside Heights students.

There would also be potential cost if Central Regional opts to legally challenge the withdrawal. The law governing regionalization, which passed in 2021, "speaks to the withdrawal process, which may mitigate any such challenge. This new regionalization legislation is new and has not been tested in the courts," according to the study.

This article contains additional reporting by Karen Wall.