Middletown Subcommittees Will Meet This Friday To Discuss Phase 6

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — There will be a special Middletown Board of Education meeting next Wednesday, Feb. 3.

It's important to know this is not the meeting where the three subcommittees tasked with advising how to best move into Phase 6 will present their findings. At this time, the only agenda item for the Feb. 3 meeting is a closed executive session so the Board of Ed. can conduct interviews for a new legal firm. (The Middletown school district is searching for a new lawyer.) Formal action will not be taken.

A date for when those three subcommittees will present has not been scheduled or publicly revealed. They will be meeting this Friday afternoon, Jan. 29, for their first discussion.

On Tuesday of this week, Middletown schools superintendent Mary Ellen Walker announced that she has formed three district subcommittees, one each for the elementary school, middle school and high school level.

These subcommittees consist of representatives from each school’s Pandemic Response Team including parents, Board of Education members, staff and administration.

The three subcommittees will meet this Friday afternoon to discuss and make recommendations for implementing Phase 6 "and maximizing instructional time while ensuring the health and safety of students and staff," said Walker.

If a second meeting is required, that will take place next week.

"We will inform the community of the plans created for Phase 6 based on the subcommittee recommendations as soon as possible," said Walker in this public letter to the community.

Right now, Middletown schools are hybrid. Some parents want Phase 6 to be all students back in class, five full days a week. Students that want to remain virtual will have that choice. Other Middletown parents want the district to maintain its hybrid schedule until more vaccine can be distributed and the case numbers more significantly decline.

Middletown public school parents are sharply divided on this issue.

Legally-required public notice for the Feb. 3 meeting:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN of a meeting of the Middletown Township Board of Education on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. AT WHICH TIME the following matters of business will be conducted: SPECIAL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING.

This meeting will be conducted virtually using the Zoom conferencing platform. The meeting will be open to the public. The Zoom meeting code will be shared prior to the start of the meeting. The meeting will also be live streamed on YouTube and that stream code will be shared before the meeting begins. Those attending the meeting via Zoom will have the opportunity to comment during the public portion of the meeting by requesting to participate by utilizing the "Raise Hand" feature on their Zoom attendee dashboard.

Those viewing the YouTube stream may have their comments or questions read into the record by first entering a request to participate into the live chat field, followed by their comment. Additionally, members of the public may email their comments to boardmeeting@middletownk12.org. If you choose to enter your comment via YouTube or email, please include your name and home address.

Formal Action Will NOT Be Taken

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