3 Lead In Middletown BOE Race, Many Votes Still Outstanding

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — As of midnight, the 1,2,3 "Putting Children First" slate of Jackie Tobacco, Frank Capone and Harmony Heffernan were leading in the extremely competitive Middletown Board of Education race. These are unofficial results and many votes have still not been counted.

Capone was the top vote getter so far, followed by Tobacco and Heffernan.

"We are going to reserve comment until the election is official or the others concede, but we are very encouraged by support of the Middletown voters thus far," said Capone in a statement to Patch.

Also remember: These are not all the votes. If you mailed your ballot back on Election Day, it still has to be counted; if you voted provisionally at the polls, it still has to be counted and ADA-machine votes are still pending.

"Only 40% of the vote is in," said Board president Pam Rogers, seeking re-election. "We congratulate all the candidates on running and putting their names out there, especially in this difficult COVID environment. We will reserve comment on the results until every vote is counted."

"I wish the best of luck to the winning candidates as I know they will do what is best for the students of the district," said Jankowski.

The 2020 Middletown Board of Ed. race was one for the record books. With a whopping 10 candidates running for three seats — and issues like Black Lives Matter, coronavirus and redistricting in play — the BOE battle was expected to be closer and more heated than even this year's Township Committee race.

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11:39 p.m., Nov. 3 vote count:

Frank CAPONE 7,248 14.50%

Jacqueline TOBACCO 7,155 14.31%

Harmony 'Barry' HEFFERNAN 6,409 12.82%

Raymond JANKOWSKI 2,245 4.49%

Robin STELLA 4,735 9.47%

Nicholas A. DiFRANCO 4,905 9.81%

Pamela ROGERS 4,610 9.22%

Kelly BRODIN 4,244 8.49%

Pam SMITH 4,214 8.43%

Patricia REED 4,126 8.25%

There were even allegations that town's two dueling political parties — Middletown Republicans and Middletown Democrats — got involved, even though school board races are supposed to be nonpartisan. Both parties denied any involvement.

Current Board members Robin Stella, Nick DiFranco and president Pamela Rogers ran as a slate to keep their seats. They were challenged by the Putting Children First slate of Jacqueline Tobacco, Frank Capone and Harmony Heffernan, running on a Republican agenda of cutting the school budget, getting kids back in school as quickly as possible and criticizing the Black Lives Matter march, held on school grounds this summer.

Then there was the "Unifying Middletown" slate of Kelly Brodin, Pam Smith and Patricia Reed, who painted themselves as a cohesion party, promising to bring together a community driven to opposite poles of Stella, Rogers, DiFranco vs. Tobacco, Heffernan, Capone.

Finally, Raymond Jankowski ran as an independent candidate.

There was plenty to disagree on this year in Middletown: First, in March the current Board members voted to close Port Monmouth elementary. While all 10 candidates have acknowledged it is impossible to bring back Port Monmouth, its closure was deeply emotional: Patch watched as Port Monmouth children and parents alike openly cried in front of the board on the night of that March 11 vote.

Ever since, some Middletown parents have vowed they would get their revenge at the ballot box.

Then there was the Black Lives Matter/Spread Love, Not Hate march held in June: It was organized by current Middletown students, who held several meetings with Rogers, as BOE president, to help facilitate the event to happen. The kids were desperate for a place to hold the march (turnout was several hundred marchers) and they were turned down from using the high school football field and the town stage. Middletown superintendent Dr. Bill George, now retired, offered to let them use the High School North parking lot. Also, $1,400 in BOE funds were used to provide security at the march.

Critics of the march say that since it was a political event, it shouldn't have been held on school grounds or received school funding. They also said the march was unfairly critical of police.

And then there was the pesky matter of getting students back in class during a COVID pandemic that refuses to go away: Tobacco led the 1,2,3 slate on an agenda of getting students back in class as quickly as possible and openly questioned whether masks were necessary or even safe.

"There was a big push for virtual learning as the future of schooling in Middletown," said Tobacco in this interview with Patch. "Pam and Robin (current Board members) were sharing or tweeting articles pushing virtual learning. Well, Middletown has had two students who died in the lockdowns, one from a suicide, one from an overdose. I am hearing horrible stories about kids being home alone all day because their parents have to go to work; about sixth graders meeting to drink in the park because of the lack of structure and socialization."

But Rogers and her team defended Middletown's hybrid plan as the safest, most reasonable option.

"The hybrid model they've come up with is the best chance we have of keeping our schools open and achieving our goal of having all students in school five days per week (phase 6) by December of this year," said Rogers.

On top of all that, with a continued decline in student enrollment and a drop in state funding, redistricting is looming on the horizon for Middletown schools.

The Rogers, DiFranco, Stella team support moving forward with a redistricting plan while the 1,2,3 slate says 2020 is not the year to do it, as the district still needs to recover from chaos caused by COVID.

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

Past coverage of the 2020 Middletown Board of Education race: Tears And Anger: Middletown BOE Votes To Close Port Monmouth (March 12)
Police Chief, Students Speak At Middletown Social Justice March (June 29)
Fallen Middletown Police Officer's Sister Takes Issue With BLM March (July 29)
Middletown School District Considering Redistricting (Sept. 30)
Ethics Complaint Filed Against 3 Middletown Board Of Ed. Members (Oct. 2)
Middletown Board Of Education Race: Candidates Talk On The Issues (Oct. 15)