Four Middletown BOE Members Vote Against 21/22 School Budget

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At their meeting Tuesday night, the Middletown Board of Education approved the $171 million budget for the 2021/22 academic year — but the budget narrowly passed in a 5-4 vote, with four Board members voting against it.

The Middletown BOE members who voted against it were Michael Donlon, Tom Giaimo, John Little and Deborah Wright. When asked by Patch why they voted against it, none of them returned our email.

But at the public meeting Tuesday night, Little said he would be voting "no" as the budget did not include hiring more guidance counselors, or enough support for trade programs in Middletown public schools.

"Guidance and social-emotional services haven't been addressed enough, I don't think," said Little. "We don't have enough guidance counselors in the high school. I don't think our social services resources are where they should be ... We don't support trades and other post-high school options as we once did."

"Our guidance counselors are overtaxed; you can't have a few hundred kids per counselor especially in today's world, where you have COVID issues and kids applying to colleges and kids applying to trades," he continued. "I don't know as a school district if we are doing as much as we should."

Little also said the Middletown school district has been vague about its plans for three to four years down the road. An idea to redistrict Middletown schools appears to have been put on the back burner — for now.

"And the strategic plan hasn't been addressed enough at all," said Little Tuesday night. "I don't think I can vote for this budget."

All the other board members — Leonora Caminiti, Jackie Tobacco, Frank Capone, Harmony Heffernan, and Joan Minnuies — voted to approve the budget in the 5-4 vote.

"(Tuesday's) voting meeting was the first time any of us heard the request for more guidance counselors from (Little), the chair of the curriculum committee," Tobacco told Patch this week after the meeting.

He did not respond to her allegation.

"Just taking a vote to blindly raise up to the cap without doing a deeper dive on how to cut costs without compromising the services we offer the students is never a good idea," she said.

Tobacco said she and her allies of Capone and Heffernan on the board "asked the administration to investigate any operational savings that could be made without impacting the priorities of the district. The amended budget that was passed reflects savings in district operations, not reduction in services," she said.

"How the administration prioritizes the services offered is strictly an administrative role," she said. "I’m very comfortable that this budget strikes a fair balance between district priorities and taxpayers' best interest."

Middletown schools lost $1.2 million in state aid; got about $800,000 in CARES funding

Like many large suburban towns, the Middletown public school budget is huge; in many NJ towns, the school budget is even bigger than the budget the town controls. For the 21/22 school year, the budget is $171 million, up from the $167 million school budget this year.

This new budget comes with a very small, .85 percent tax increase for Middletown property owners. That will bring in $714,000 in new money for Middletown schools.

The school tax increase would have been bigger, about 1.5 percent, but there was a reduction in debt service, said superintendent Mary Ellen Walker, which brought the tax levy down.

That means the average home in Middletown, assessed at $467,000, will pay about $89 more in taxes next year for schools. Middletown homeowners paid a total of $147 million for their schools in 20/21 and in 21/22 will pay $149 million.

Middletown schools had to raise taxes to make up for the $1.2 million reduction in state aid, said superintendent Walker. As Patch has reported, Middletown schools have consistently received less money from the state Department of Education, owing to a change in how New Jersey funds school districts. In the new formula, large suburban districts like Middletown, Brick, Holmdel and Toms River now get less money from Trenton. Middletown schools have also seen a pupil reduction in recent years.

Middletown schools did get a combined about $833,000 in total CARES Act funding and federal coronavirus relief money. The district has not decided explicitly how it will spend that money.

Watch the full budget presentation from Tuesday night. It is a long meeting; the budget is presented at about the 2:12 mark:

Related: Middletown Schools To Get 7 Percent Less Funding From Trenton (February 2021)

Middletown School District Considering Redistricting (September 2020)

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