Middletown School Board Will Meet In Library Later This Month

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Starting later this month, the Middletown school board will start holding its meetings at the Middletown public library.

The past two Middletown BOE meetings were held at the local VFW hall, in a controversial decision to sidestep Gov. Phil Murphy's mandate that anyone inside a school building must wear a mask, even after hours.

Those who supported moving the meetings to the library, including Board members Joan Minnuies and Frank Capone, said it was done so no members of the public would be forced to wear a mask. Middletown Police have been tasked with enforcing Murphy's mask mandate; they would have had to physically escort unmasked parents out of the building and write them tickets.

"The governor ordered the prosecutor's office to have local police departments enforce handing out summonses to people that would not comply with the mask policy," said Minnuies earlier this week. "I do not agree with putting our police in that situation."

But some in Middletown disagreed, most notably board members Deborah Wright, Tom Giaimo and John Little.

"Board of Education meetings should be held in the schools that our students attend," countered Wright. "By moving the meetings out of our schools and eliminating Zoom, the Board has limited access for our entire community to fully engage with the BOE."

Capone told Patch Friday that it was Middletown Township that offered the library as an alternative meeting spot.

"We have a very good working relationship with the Township," he said. "Mayor (Tony) Perry and the committee are always willing to assist our needs. The library is centrally located, and we are very grateful to the Township."

The library will be used free of cost to the board. A unnamed resident paid for the two meetings at the VFW hall; no school district money was used. Patch previously checked with the New Jersey School Boards Association and there is no legal requirement school board meetings be held on actual school grounds.

Capone also said the Oct. 20 workshop meeting was canceled because both he and Minnuies had prior commitments, and that the workshop and voting meeting will be combined into one meeting on Oct. 25.

Official public notice from the Middletown school district:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN of an update to previously scheduled meetings of the Middletown Township Board of Education. There will not be a meeting on October 20, 2021.

The meeting scheduled for Monday, October 25, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. will be held at the Middletown Township Public Library in the Community Room at which time the following matters of business will be conducted:

Workshop/Regular Voting Meeting. This meeting will be open to the public at
approximately 8:00 p.m. The public portion of the meeting will be live-streamed on YouTube.

Formal Action Will Be Taken

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