Board of Education

BACKGROUND:

Middletown's Board of Education consists of 9 members. The Board of Ed members are elected by the public, and are meant to represent the public (taxpayers and parents) "at the table" in discussions, decisions, and strategic planning sessions with the Middletown Public Schools District Administration. Think of this as a collaborative 'checks and balances' approach to running the district. District Administration is headed up by the Superintendent of Schools, and consists of the education professionals paid with Middletown tax dollars to run all district operations. The Board of Ed's purpose is to guide, respond to, and influence decisions of Administration as representatives of the public interest. The Board of Ed also hires for and directly oversees the role of Superintendent.

The Board of Ed meets as a full board two times a month: at Workshop meetings and at Voting meetings. Up to 4 members at a time can also meet as smaller committees in between full board meetings (5 or more would be considered a quorum and is prohibited, because all meetings with 5 or more members must be held publicly and have published advance notice.)

Approximately $640 of every $1000 of your tax dollars go to the District Budget that is proposed by District Administration and voted on by the Board of Education. The 2018-2019 total budget for the Middletown Township Public School district is approximately $160 million, of which approximately $140 million is funded by the tax levy. The remaining $20 million is funded by state and other aid.

Being on the Board of Education is not a paying job, it is a volunteer position. Like Township Committee members, many current BOE members hold full-time day jobs. A BOE member's term is 3 years; each year 3 seats are up for election. The 3 seats up for election this year are those of Jim Cody, Joan Minnuies, and Danielle Walsh.

Click here to be taken to the Board of Education page on the Middletown District website.

CURRENT MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS:

Leonora Caminiti - originally elected 2004; re-elected in 2016
Jim Cody - elected 2011 - NOT RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION
Nick DiFranco - elected 2017
Mike Donlon - elected 2009, 2013, and 2016
John Little - elected 2016
Joan Minnuies - RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION - elected 2003
Pam Rogers - elected 2017
Robin Stella - elected 2017
Danielle Walsh - elected 2015 - NOW RUNNING FOR TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE

RESOURCES AND ARTICLES

When any "roundup" articles are published about the candidate set, links will be posted here. (Note: we will not post articles focused on single candidate.)

ARTICLE: Middletown: School board candidates talk taxes, redistricting, PARCC and more, Asbury Park Press 10/16/18

RESOURCE: 2018 BOE Candidate Responses to Questions from the Middletown Parent Action Committee Facebook Group, 10/22/18

MEET THE CANDIDATES Q&A FORUM VIDEO:

Full unedited recording of the October 25 Meet the Candidates forum held at Lincroft School. Thank you to the candidates who attended for agreeing to have the session taped so it could be shared with all Middletown voters. Click to be taken to the YouTube video with timestamps for specific questions.