Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Wants To Redistrict

ABERDEEN, NJ — On Monday night, the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District unveiled a redistricting proposal.

Will the district close any schools? The district is not considering closing any schools, said MARSD superintendent Nelyda Perez.

The school district is in an "exploration phase" right now, the district said in this video Perez created (watch the entire video below).

"This is all about gathering data and hearing from the community before any kind of plan is even put together," the video said.

However, some things the school district is considering are adjusting boundaries for which students attend which schools; increasing class sizes in certain schools and adjusting the grade levels in schools, for example — making one school K-2 and another for 3-5.

The final idea may be combination of all three, said the district.

The MARSD school district said redistricting is necessary because a demographic study was done that predicted an enrollment increase across its elementary schools over the next few years. However, that expected student surge will not be equal across all schools, and there will be uneven class sizes and enrollment in school buildings.

The use of buildings in the district is "unbalanced," and there also needs to be greater efficiency in busing, the school district said. The district may create new transportation zones.

The school district hired citygateGIS consulting firm to do a demographic study of the school district and the area. Citygate has 28 years of experience being hired by school districts that seek to do redistricting.

What will happen now is the consulting firm will begin collecting data on student enrollment, data on transportation, how many students walk to school vs. are bused, mapping student locations and neighborhoods and studying the "functionable capacity of school buildings." From there, the consulting firm will make recommendations and present them to the school board in late February.

Any changes have to be approved by the Board of Education. The district hopes to get Board approval by the end of February/early March 2026, and start putting the changes in place in July and August, the district said on page 11 of this redistricting presentation it gave Monday night.

Here is the timeline the school district said it wants redistricting to happen in:

• Develop scenarios: December 2025 - January 2026
• Community engagement - Ongoing 2026
• Board approval - End of Feb/Early March 2026
• Logistical planning - March – June 2026
• Implementation - July 1 - August 2026

Changes could be phased in over time or fully implemented all at once, said the district.

Perez emphasized she wants this to be a collaborative, open process with the community. The school district created this redistricting web page on the district's website: marsd.org/Shaping Our District’s Future

The public will be able to comment there and they are encouraged to attend school board meetings. Members of the public and MARSD parents can also email Fred Hejazi (fhejazi@citygategis.com), from the consulting firm.