2nd Middletown Schools Budget Meeting Will Be Monday Night

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Here's a reminder that the second emergency public budget meeting for the Middletown school district will be from 6-8 p.m. Monday at the Thompson Middle School gymnasium.

If you cannot attend tonight's meeting in person, it will be livestreamed via the district's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

These are "emergency" public hearings on the budget because the school district has until April 30 to come up with a balanced 2025-'26 budget that does not include closing three schools, as the school district has proposed.

Other alternatives include a 10.1-percent school property tax increase (the district already tentatively plans to raise school property taxes 4.88 percent next year, in addition to closing the three schools; see this letter), or possibly laying off 120 school employees, and eliminating some extracurriculars for students.

The remaining meeting schedule:

• Monday, March 31 at 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. in the Thompson Middle School gym
• Tuesday, April 1: The district will send a survey to all community members
• Tuesday, April 8: Board of Education special meeting: (executive, non-public session only)
• Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the High School North Auditorium
• Thursday, April 10 at 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the High School South Gymnasium

"The administrative team and the Board of Education are actively working on vetting further alternative options to eliminate a significant shortfall in next year's budget," said superintendent Jessica Alfone in this March 21 letter to Middletown public school parents and guardians. "After the first two forums, the district will be putting out a survey to all community members for feedback, and the Board of Education will be holding a special executive session on April 8 to discuss the feedback from the community. Following this meeting, alternatives will be shared with the school community. The final two forums will be for the community to express feedback on the various alternatives to balance next year's budget and ensure a path forward for the future. I want to reiterate to the school community that nothing is finalized in regards to the budget until our April 30 meeting."

Here's some of what was said at the first public budget hearing: Older Middletown Residents: We Can't Afford 10 Percent Tax Hike To Keep Schools Open

Gov. Murphy Responds To Proposed Middletown School Closures