Consolidation is the talk among four Monmouth County school districts
Thursday the 25th members of the Ocean Township, Allenhurst, Deal and Interlaken school districts will meet to discuss the possibility of consolidation. The meeting was called by Monmouth County Schools Superintendent Carole Morris after she received a letter from Ocean Township Schools Superintendent Thomas Pagano outlining reasons why the four districts should unite, in accordance with a state mandate that districts statewide merge to help reduce costs. First on the state's consolidation initiative is merging nonoperating school districts, those are districts without schools, with kindergarten-through-12th-grade districts. Both Interlaken and Allenhurst are considered nonoperating districts and are among the remaining 13 that then-Education Commissioner Lucille Davy began to consolidate last year. The original consolidation plan called for a merger of Ocean Township, Asbury Park, Deal, Interlaken and Allenhurst, if voters from Ocean Township, Asbury Park and Deal approved the merger. Residents from nonoperating school districts would not vote on consolidations.
Sue Linfante
