Jackson, NJ approves sale of another school; will sue state over unfair funding

💲The Jackson school district is trying to close an anticipated $13M budget gap

💲Next steps will be announced in the next few weeks

💲The school will also plans a lawsuit against the state over funding

JACKSON — A school board in Ocean County voted on Wednesday night to close a middle school and to sue the state over funding.

All 7th and 8th grade students will attend what is now Jackson Memorial High School while the McAuliffe Middle School is put up for sale. Fifth and 6th graders will attend what is now Goetz Middle School. Liberty High School will house all students in grades 9 through 12.

The changes are to fill an anticipated $13 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 academic year

The final plan changes which middle school will close. At a meeting on Jan. 22, the board had recommended closing the Goetz school. A title search revealed a "reverter clause" that would jeopardize the district's ownership of the building if it were not used as a school. This means that the district would not be able to sell the building.

"While we understand that this transition may bring about a range of emotions, we want to assure you that this change comes with great potential for our students, families, and staff," Superintendent Nicole Pormilli said in a statement.

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No loan for Jackson

After budget problems in 2024 led to the sale of the Rosenauer Elementary School to a Lakewood-based all-girls Jewish school, the board authorized its attorney to look into filing a lawsuit against the state over funding. A $65 million loan to the Lakewood public schools pushed Jackson over the edge.

"The Jackson Board of Education appears to be held to a different standard and was required to submit a balanced budget before any advanced aid payment was even considered. This forced us to sell one of our schools to close our ever-widening budget gap. This is sad on many levels," the board said in a written statement.

"While we only want the best for every school district in the state, we also believe that state laws and regulations must be applied fairly and evenhandedly to everyone. Clearly, they are not."

"Our goal is to respect and honor the traditions that exist in all of our schools. We will be bringing people together — including students — to talk about how to do that in ways that allow us to honor the past and look to the future of One Jackson," the district said in a statement.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this report should have said that 7th and 8th-grade students will be sent to what is now Jackson Memorial High School.

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