First Public Middletown School Budget Meeting Is Wednesday: Here's The Schedule

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Wednesday night in the High School North auditorium will be the first of four public meetings the Middletown BOE will host to resolve its $10-million budget deficit — without closing three schools, as the district proposed.

Here is the schedule of ALL the upcoming meetings on this topic (not all meetings will be open to the public):

• Wednesday, March 26 at 6:00-8:00 pm at the High School North Auditorium
• Monday, March 31 at 6:00 - 8:00 pm at the Thompson Gymnasium
• Tuesday, April 1: District is tentatively supposed to send a survey to the community on this date.
• Tuesday, April 8: Board of Education special meeting: (Executive Session only) Not open to public
• Wednesday, April 9 at 6:00-8:00 pm in the High School North Auditorium
• Thursday, April 10 at 6:00-8:00 pm at the High School South Gymnasium

All four of these public meetings will also be live streamed on the district's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

When the Middletown school district first introduced the proposal to close three schools (Leonardo + Navesink elementary schools, and Bayshore Middle School) at the school board meeting last Tuesday, many parents asked to look at the budget to see how gaps can be plugged without closing schools.

The Middletown school board accepted the help.

The Middletown school board plans to take a final vote on its budget (which may include closing the three schools, if that's what the Board decides) its April 30 meeting.

BOE President Frank Capone said last week "the last thing I ever want to do is close a school."

"There is enough time between now and our final budget to see what we can come up with, and see if we can strip it again," said Capone. "I'm a dad, too and I have five kids. The last thing I ever want to do is close a school ... If there is a way to figure this out in the next month, 30 days whatever we have, we are gonna do our best to try and figure that out. I encourage everyone to come to our forums."

But Capone also said:

"We're at the point now where if we just keep plugging a hole for this year, we're going to have the same problem next year again. If we don't take action that's meaningful for the whole district, this is just going to continue."

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