Middletown Board Of Education: Ten Candidates Run For Three Seats

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — There are three seats up for election this fall on the Middletown Board of Education, and ten candidates running for them.

The candidates are:

• Robin Stella (currently on the board, vice president, running to keep her seat)
• Nicholas A. DiFranco (currently on the board, running to keep his seat)
• Pamela Rogers (currently on the board, president, running to keep her seat)
• Raymond Jankowski
• Kelly Brodin
• Pam Smith
• Patricia Reed
• Jacqueline Tobacco
• Frank Capone
• Harmony B. Heffernan

The Middetown school board election will be Nov. 3, the same day as the U.S. presidential election.

The past several years for the Middletown school district have been somewhat tumultuous: The district has seen a continued decline in student enrollment, a factor that led to a sharp drop in state aid from Trenton. It's a problem the district has been grappling with for several years now. That drop in student enrollment led to the closure of Port Monmouth Elementary this March, a decision that angered many in the Port Monmouth area.

Then superintendent Dr. Bill George announced this spring he is quitting the district; a search is currently underway for his replacement. The Middletown school district is also trying to address allegations of racism, made specifically by its graduating high school valedictorian, and some are trying to change the district's curriculum to make it "anti-racist." On top of all that COVID struck, and the district is trying to find a way to bring students back this fall; here's their latest plan.

Stay tuned for Patch interviews with all the candidates. If there are specific questions you'd like us to ask them, email Carly.baldwin@patch.com.

Here's our coverage you should read about Middletown schools:

Middletown Schools Could Lose $5.5 Million In Aid Over 7 Years (June 2018)

Middletown School Taxes Going Up As State Cuts Aid (March 2019)

Middletown, Hazlet Schools Lose (Again) In State Aid Formula (Feb. 2020)

Tears And Anger: Middletown BOE Votes To Close Port Monmouth (March 2020)

Middletown Valedictorian: I Survived Years Of Race Discrimination (June 2020)

Hundreds Ask Middletown Schools To Begin 'Anti-Racist' Curriculum (June 2020)

Middletown Releases In-Person School Plan For Fall 2020 (June 2020)

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