Tears And Anger: Middletown BOE Votes To Close Port Monmouth

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — In a vote that was painful to witness — as parents shouted in frustration and children cried — the Middletown Board of Education voted 6-2 to close Port Monmouth Elementary School Wednesday night.

Leonora Caminiti and Joan Minnuies were the only two board members who voted "no." Board president Pamela Rogers, Robin Stella, Nick DiFranco, Michael Donlon, John Little and Deborah Wright all voted to follow the recommendation of Middletown schools superintendent Dr. William George, who wants to shutter the school. Tom Giaimo was not present (Patch originally incorrectly reported he was there.)

Port Monmouth will close in June, at the end of this academic year. The students will be moved to New Monmouth in the fall.

Dr. George has given several reasons for closing the K-5th grade elementary school, which currently has about 195 students enrolled. His primary reason is budget shortfalls from Trenton; over the years, Middletown has continually seen decreased funding from state education coffers. He also cited dwindling enrollment at Port Monmouth, plus concerns over the integrity of the 92-year-old building, located on Main Street. The district has said it will take $4 million to renovate Port Monmouth and keep it operational.

"They chose us because we are the weakest link," said one Port Monmouth staff member who did not want to be named. She's worked in the school for decades. "Port Monmouth is not a wealthy area. It's North Middletown. It's not as wealthy as South Middletown. And this is a community that was devastated by Sandy."

She started crying then and was unable to continue. It remains unclear what will happen to the teachers and staff at Port Monmouth.

Dr. George said the decision to close Port Monmouth was entirely practical.

"It's simple: We are closing a school on this side of town because there are less students on this side of town," said Dr. George. "We have to close a $2.5 million budget gap. These are extremely challenging financial times. From 2011, we've already lost $2.5 million. We're still going to lose $2.8 million. People think we can keep tightening our belt but we can't. The steps that we're taking are going to bring class sizes back down."

Starting in September 2020, the 195 Port Monmouth students will be moved to New Monmouth elementary. Students who once enjoyed a five-minute walk to school will now have to walk nearly 50 minutes to New Monmouth, as many live under the 2-mile radius that would enable them to get busing from Middletown.

"Wilson Avenue is a busy road with no crosswalk," said Jaime Kennedy, who has a fifth-grade daughter and a niece at Port Monmouth. "What they are doing is destroying our neighborhood school. Meanwhile there is so much development going on in Middletown," she added, referring to the likelihood that Port Monmouth will see more students in coming years.

Other parents agreed that many Port Monmouth students have young siblings at home who will need a local school to go to in the future.

Dr. George is also closing the school an incredibly fast fashion: When the budget shortfall from Trenton came through late last year, rumors had been swirling for months that a Middletown school would close. But George only officially announced the closure of Port Monmouth 22 days ago.

"22 days. It's extremely rushed. When I first found out about this, I honestly thought it was a joke," said Rob Jones, the father of a Port Monmouth third grader. "And I found out on Facebook. No text from the school, no letter home. Nothing. Facebook. Can they show us how they've tried to save money or invited citizen participation on this?"

"Some of those board members up there even ran on a platform of not closing schools," he continued. "And I go to every Board of Ed. meeting and in previous meetings they've been asked: Will there be any big changes this spring? The answer was always no, absolutely not.'"

George said he's done everything under the supervision of Monmouth County and the state. The proposal to close Port Monmouth started formulating in early January of this year.

"This was a done deal," said Port Monmouth mom Pam Smith before the vote. "They knew they were going to vote this way. And I think it's completely inappropriate Dr. George went to the elementary and talked to kids before talking to parents about this. Completely inappropriate."

Smith said she has two children enrolled at Port Monmouth. "Our next step now is to appeal to the county," she said.

Rogers, the Board president who voted to close the school, said parents were so angry that one mom tried to physically attack her Wednesday night.

"I’ve been publicly verbally abused for the last few meetings, attacked on social media, and last night, a woman had to be pulled back by her husband because she was trying to physically assault me," said Rogers. "The police were able to contain her and escort me out to my car."

"It was a very difficult evening," she continued. "While none of us on the board wants to close a school, the Board of Education was elected to make decisions that are, at times, not popular or easy to make ... School closings have been a consideration of this board for 20 years, as we have 12 elementary schools and cannot afford to keep them all open, especially when they are not sufficiently filled due to a consistently declining enrollment."

Declining enrollment has been a problem for several years now across the Middletown school district.

Port Monmouth has a declining enrollment, and New Monmouth has the space, said Dr. George.

"Student enrollment at New Monmouth School has decreased 34% (190 students) since 2009-2010. The current enrollment at Port Monmouth School is 8% lower than the 2019-2020 projected enrollment," he said.

Some parents said they would even be happier with re-districting, if it meant keeping all the schools open.

But Rogers said that the Board explored a district-wide solution, and such an idea would mean firing 15 teachers district-wide, which would increase class size district-wide.

"Alternate cuts to closing the school were presented to the board by the administration. But, these cuts included firing 15 teachers district wide, thus increasing class size. These cuts included items essential to fulfilling current curriculum and would lower our standards, district wide. I could not do that to this school district that I love," she said.

So far Middletown schools have eliminated 35 staff positions; 27 regular education teachers, three administrators, four secretaries and one facilities staff member due to budget cuts from Trenton, according to Dr. George.

"We had pushed back this vote an extra week to allow ample time for the public to speak their mind and get answers from this administration," added Rogers.

"While I am saddened by the loss of the building of Port Monmouth school, I am encouraged by the hopes that both Port Monmouth and New Monmouth will enjoy a better educational experience together, under one roof, as one big family," said Rogers.

Middletown public schools will continue to lose money in the coming years: Middletown is currently working on closing a projected budget deficit for the 2020-2021 school year of $2.5 million. Over the next four years, the district is projected to realize additional reductions in state aid of $2.8 million.

Read: Middletown Schools Unveil Plan To Close Port Monmouth Elementary