Middletown Unveils 2026 Plan To Close 2 Elementary Schools, And Bayshore Middle School

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — And now, for the first time, the Middletown school district reveals its 2026 plan to reduce the size of its budget and save money. And yes, the school district again wants to close schools, for the second year in a row.

On Saturday, the Middletown school district sent a PDF home to all parents that outlines what the district wants to do; here is the PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/...

Saturday was the first time the 2026 plan was unveiled to the public. However, this plan was given to the school board in executive session earlier this week.

Here is what the district would like to do:

1. Consolidate Leonardo and Navesink elementary schools into one school. The students would move into the existing Bayshore Middle School building. The building would be renamed Bayshore Elementary School.

2. The physical buildings that house Leonardo and Navesink would close. The district would likely sell Leonardo, but it does not own Navesink.

3. Current Bayshore Middle School students will be rezoned to Thorne and Thompson middle schools.

4. There will also be an adjustment of feeder patterns from elementary to middle and middle to high school. See specifics on that below.

5. The district also plans to make improvements (including district-wide HVAC improvements) and even do some new construction and expansion, particularly at the middle and elementary schools. To do this, the school district plans to ask the taxpayers of Middletown to approve a bond (borrow money) and the district also intends to sell properties it owns, to generate revenue for capital projects.

(The district already has state approval to sell some of these properties.)

These are huge proposed changes. The Middletown school board will be asked to vote on this at their next meeting, which was supposed to be this upcoming Tuesday, Feb. 24, but now may be pushed back to Feb. 26 because of the impending blizzard.

If the school board approves these changes, they would happen fast: The school district wants to close Leonardo and Navesink in the upcoming 2026-'27 school year (starting in September).

Here is how the feeding patterns would change:

• The following elementary schools will feed into Thorne Middle School: Ocean Avenue, New Monmouth, Harmony, Bayshore (the former Leonardo and Navesink) and Bayview
• The following elementary schools will feed into Thompson Middle School: River Plaza, Nut Swamp, Lincroft, Fairview and Middletown Village

Thorne Middle School students will attend High School North.

Thomson Middle School students will attend High School South.

This is important to note: Students currently in grades 6th and 7th at Thompson and Thorne and 9th, 10th, 11 in the high schools will remain in their current school placement even if these new feeder patterns are approved.

Superintendent Jessica Alfone very much wants this to happen. Just like in 2025, this redistricting proposal was put forth under her administration. If all of the above is approved, there will be a recurring cost savings to the district of $3.5 - $4 million. That is because the district will save hundreds of thousands on staff insurance and salaries, but also see significant savings because it will no longer have to maintain aging school buildings and keep them heated, air conditioned, etc. Both Navesink and Leonardo school buildings are very old and each need millions in repairs, the district said.

The district will also make millions if it sells or leases certain pieces of property.

"Any unoccupied building that the district owns is potential revenue either via sale or lease," said the school district Friday in its PDF.

But ... what about that 10.1 percent school tax increase?

The 2026 plan is basically identical to what the school district proposed in the spring of 2025. However, the idea to close schools last year was met with thunderous pushback from Middletown parents, specifically Save Our Schools, a group of vocal parents who formed to prevent schools from closing.

When the district introduced this last spring, it failed to get a majority vote from the school board, in part because of the immense pushback from parents. Instead, a majority of the board passed a 10.1 percent increase to the school tax last year. Many are now wondering why that 10.1 percent tax increase is not sufficient to keep all schools in Middletown open. But superintendent Alfone was always clear that one-time tax increase would only solve last year's budget deficit.

The 10.1 percent tax increase was never meant to take future possible school closings off the table, she has said. In fact, here is a statement the district released Friday that speaks exactly to that 10.1 percent school tax increase:

"Despite the 10.1% tax increase, the district is still faced with financial challenges. This additional revenue was a temporary bridge to allow for further investigation of alternative options. While our reserves will be healthier and our deficit not as significant as last year, the overall budget will surpass our revenue sources. This will just maintain the status quo absent of any new programs/projects. Based on the most recent budget projections the district is facing projected structural deficits of $3,227,275 (2026-2027); $6,621,669 (2027-2028); $10,190,115 (2028-2029); $13,939,810 (2029-2030). Therefore, plans to create recurring savings must implemented. Shrinking the district footprint allows us to use staff more efficiently, needing less staff, which is the largest driver of the budget."

Here's how the new Bayshore Elementary school will look:

• Student population would be approximately 500 students, which is in alignment with the district's other larger elementary schools.
• Class sizes would be between 20-23 in all K-5 classroom.
• All students would be moving to the new building together with their peers. This is not viable in other potential restructuring plans.
• Students would have access to larger classroom spaces, multiple large common spaces, and dedicated art, music, PE and lunch rooms.
• "Due to available space, Bayshore Elementary School could be home to some of our special class programs, which frees up space in some of our other elementary schools that may lack dedicated special area spaces," said the district.

Will there be staff layoffs in Middletown schools?

Right now, the district says no, but nothing is certain.

"Needing less staff does not necessarily equate to job loss or large reductions in force," the district said Friday in its proposal. "The district is large and therefore can absorb these changes mostly through attrition."

If this plan gets approved, the district said "some" staff will be repurposed to lower class sizes in core subjects at the middle school level.

"As we shrink the footprint, strategically add onto facilities, and become healthier financially, the discussion can shift to how to best use staff to lower class sizes across the district," said the district. "This will take time but priority will be given to our youngest learners and our middle school core classes. For example, last year’s proposal would have produced 17 excess middle school positions over-and-above what was presented in the cost savings. These 17 positions would have been reassigned to core classes at the middle schools to offset class sizes."

From Thursday night's school board meeting: Middletown School Board Continues To Argue Over Whether To Close Schools

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the 2026 plan was unveiled to the public Friday. It was not; it was given to the public Saturday.