Summary Of Middletown BOE Meeting On July 21

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Here is a basic summary of what occurred at the most recent Middletown Board of Education meeting, held last Wednesday, July 21. The next meeting is Tuesday night, July 27 and it is a voting meeting.

• Several parents who live in the area of Four Ponds development do not want their children walking along Middletown-Lincroft Road to get to Middletown High School South. They are requesting the school district provide their children with a bus.

"It was simply an idea that was thrown around when we all got together to brainstorm what was happening. Those living in the Four Ponds community are exactly 2.48 miles from the school," said one of the parents, Julie Rizov, who contacted Patch to clarify after this article was published. "That's a 45-minute walk for our children on the road with an inconsistent sidewalk and a large amount of car traffic. It's incredibly dangerous especially for the younger ones. You say we don't want our children walking along Middletown-Lincroft, which is true, but you should also include the way. Our request for busing isn't some willy-nilly request we feel we are entitled to. This is a group of parents being concerned for the safety and well-being of our children. We want our children to get to school safely and easily."

There is no sidewalk on that stretch of road; it is a high-traffic road; the road is snow-covered in winter and the teens will have to walk to school in the pre-dawn darkness, said the moms.

• Board vice president Frank Capone, who runs the finance committee, said he spoke with Sen. Declan O'Scanlon (R), who reps Middletown in Trenton, and it's very unlikely the Middletown school district will get any additional state aid from Trenton.

The state Dept. of Education announced in late February that Middletown schools will receive $14.5 million for the 21/22 school year, seven percent less than it got the year prior.

State aid for Middletown schools has steadily declined in recent years. In total, Middletown schools have lost $3.3 million in the past three years due a change in how the New Jersey school funding formula is decided. Critics have long said New Jersey's funding formula hurts suburban school districts, while rewarding urban districts.

• The Middletown school district did receive about $2.4 million in what's called "extraordinary aid," which is based on how much a district spends on special education. This is not a new number and usually about what Middletown schools get every year. Middletown usually uses any leftover money not spent from extraordinary aid to replenish reserve funds in the budget, said superintendent Mary Ellen Walker.

• Esports was so popular this summer that there was a huge wait list and the Middletown school district will be expanding Esports next summer, so more kids can sign up.

This summer was the first time Middletown launched Esports, which is like an online summer coding and gaming camp. Kids in Esports learn coding, graphic design, marketing and branding, game design, video editing and production and much more.

• Any parent who would like their child to repeat the 2020/21 school year, which was mostly done virtually, is able to do so. All the parent has to do is send a written request to their child's teacher.
• An outside classroom will be built at Thompson Middle School. It will be located outside by the back breezeway of Thompson, in what is currently a triangular outdoor grassy area. The district is in the process of installing thirteen benches, to fit 30 students outdoors. There will not be a canopy, but one Board member expressed concern, saying there should be a canopy so classes can be held outdoors on hot days under the sun. This is being funded via a private donation.
• The percentage of students at Fairview Elementary School who qualify for a free or reduced lunch has increased. It has reached the level that it can qualify as a Title 1 school, which means it qualifies for increased funding from the federal government. The Middletown BOE will likely designate Fairview as a Title 1 school so it qualifies for more federal funding.

Already, Bayview, Harmony, New Monmouth, Ocean Avenue and Leonardo, plus Bayshore and Thorne middle schools qualify as Title 1, meaning they have a high number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Middletown High School North is also eligible to be a Title 1 school, but Middletown has chosen not to have High School North designated as Title 1 because it would take away federal funding to the elementary schools.

• Starting July 27, the Middletown Board of Education will meet entirely in person and the public will not be able to call in via a Zoom meeting. If you want to attend future Middletown BOE meeting, you must go in person or submit comments to boardmeeting@middletownk12.org. The meetings will continue to be livestreamed on the district YouTube channel.

The one Board member who was against this was Michael Donlon, who said stopping the use of Zoom meetings will dramatically decrease public participation, and said Zoom meetings allowed parents who have a sick child or a work situation to call in.

"We've been able to open up the BOE to the public; we've had nights where we had over 400 people on a call and I just think we should still have that ability," said Donlon.

Starting July 27, Middletown BOE meetings will be held at the High School North media center. There will be no Zoom participation. You must go in person or listen on the livestream and email your questions or comments.

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Watch the July 21 meeting yourself: