Middletown School District Releases Timeline Of When It Will Close 2 Schools, Turn Bayshore Into Elementary

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — This week, the Middletown school district released a timeline of its plan to close two elementary schools, and turn a middle school into a new elementary.

When the school year ends in June, the Middletown school district will begin the physical process of closing Navesink and Leonardo elementaries. Those students will be moved into Bayshore Middle School, which will cease operating as a middle school and become the new Bayshore Elementary.

Also, there's a big Middletown school board meeting Tuesday night. This is the meeting where the budget for the 2026-'27 school year will be presented. This is the budget that officially closes the three schools. The district released the budget: go.boarddocs.com/nj/middletownk12/Board.nsf/files/DSGQ6L67CAC3/$file/2026-2027%20Tentative%20Budget%20Presentation%20-March%2024%2C%202026%20for%20agenda.pdf

Next year's budget calls for a two-percent increase to the school tax levy, which is the standard increase New Jersey school districts are allowed by law to raise school taxes.

Tuesday night's meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Middletown High School North Auditorium. The public can watch it livestreamed here:

Here's the timeline for closing the two schools and converting the third: (Here is the PDF, with the timeline, the district released this week.)

March 2026:

• Community letter sent to all families
• Faculty meetings held with impacted staff
• 8th Grade High School Intention Survey conducted
• Mapping of classrooms at Bayshore for elementary footprint
• Staffing process begins
• School Consolidation Task Force formed and first meeting held.
• Second School Consolidation Task Force Meeting

April:

• Social-Emotional Support Plan initiated in impacted schools
• Staff members who are assigned to new schools visit new buildings (April PD Day)
• Middle school principals conduct visits to speak with elementary 5th Grade students
• Special Education Structure shared with school community
• Staffing finalized by April 30 - staff notified of assignment when possible

May:

• Administration assignments announced
• Information sessions for families with accompanying building walk-throughs
• 5th Grade Students visit Thompson (where they will go to school next year)

June:

• Professional Day (June 2) staff to visit new buildings and meet with administration and other staff members
• 6th/7th Grade Bayshore students visit Thorne and Thompson (where they will attend next year)
• Staff members provided time to pack/organize classrooms for relocation
• Relocation of materials/supplies begins at the end of June
• 5th Grade Students visit Thorne (where they will attend next year)

July:

• Furniture, materials and supplies relocated to new buildings
• Bayshore Elementary projects to be conducted (if needed)

August:

• Furniture, materials and supplies relocated to new buildings
• Bayshore Elementary projects to be completed (if needed)
• 6th Grade Orientations/Walk-throughs
• 7th/8 Grade Orientations for new students
• PFA/PTO events to bring new school communities together
• Bus assignments, class placements and schedules available in Parent Portal

Also, in that timeline, the district answered some of the public's biggest questions:

Does the Middletown school district have future plans to consolidate more schools?

"The district has not committed to any further consolidation plans for the future," said the school district. "At the current time, no additional buildings have been slated for closure. However, the district will have to continue to evaluate the overall footprint to reduce operational costs and move toward great efficiency and financial health."

Will some staff lose their jobs?

Here is what the district said about that this week: "The district’s intention is to retain high-quality staff members even when reductions have to be made. Each year the district reviews the staffing from a district-level perspective and placing staff members where they will best serve the students. Because the district is so large and employs a large number of staff members, it can usually absorb reductions through attrition and other non-renewal situations. In the context of consolidation, the district goal is to reduce positions, not people, when avoidable. Therefore, when students relocate, they will definitely have the support of familiar faces in their new environments."

Bayshore Middle School is closing. Where will its current 8th graders go?

The district says: "Current 8th graders whose high school of attendance would change in the new sending zone configuration will have a choice between the two schools. If a student elects to attend the originally zoned school, they will receive transportation through their 11 grade year. This is when these routes will no longer be in existence due to the phase-out of the former sending zone routes. 8th graders who are impacted by the rezoning should complete the survey to confirm their high school choice."

"All current 6th and 7th graders and incoming 6th graders (current 5th graders) will attend the high school in their zone."

How is special education affected?

Thorne Middle School will continue to host the Multiply-Disabled Program 6-8 and the ERI Program 6-8. Thompson Middle School will become the host for the Autism Program 6-8. Each school will also have LLD programs available for students receiving these services.

What about class size and building capacity?

"Even though both middle schools will be receiving more students, it is the district’s goal to drop class size maximums from 27 to 25. As a product of the consolidation, the district will have the ability to re-purpose staff to help reduce the class sizes at the middle-school level. Schedules are being configured with 25 as the class size parameter."

The school district continued:

"Both Thompson and Thorne have an instructional capacity of 1,175 students. This statistic is based on the practical usage of the space. The district’s Director of Facilities inventoried the buildings as part of our application to the county for school consolidation. The Long Range Facilities Plan is currently being updated with the district’s architect to reflect the most up-to-date capacity information. Over the next five years, the enrollment in Thorne and Thompson will not exceed the 1,175 student threshold. When county officials visited both schools, they did not express any concern with the space and potential overcrowding."

Can younger siblings be grandfathered into their current older siblings' schools to make it easier on families?

"The question of grandfathering siblings has been discussed. The district will look to grandfather siblings that are in 6th grade (2026-27) and above. For example, if you have a child who attends the high school outside of the new zoning structure, the middle school sibling will have the opportunity to make that same selection. Bussing would temporarily be available. Once bussing ceases for the older child, bussing would no longer be provided as those routes will be abolished. All students in K-5th (2026-2027) will be required to attend their zoned high school."

"Other requests to attend a school other than the one zoned for students, outside of the above parameters, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This is how the district currently handles such requests."

Under this new plan, these are the schools that will feed into Middletown High School South:

Thompson Middle School
Fairview Elementary
Lincroft Elementary
Middletown Village Elementary
Nut Swamp Elementary
River Plaza Elementary

And here are the schools that will feed into Middletown High School North:

Thorne Middle School

Bayshore Elementary

Bayview Elementary

Harmony Elementary

New Monmouth Elementary

Ocean Avenue Elementary

Email the Middletown Patch reporter Carly.baldwin@patch.com with news tips.