Henry Hudson Regional names transitional leaders as three schools merge

HIGHLANDS — To run the three schools of Henry Hudson Regional, Atlantic Highlands Elementary and Highlands Elementary, 25 board members make decisions on everything from budgets to teacher salaries to technological upgrades.

Yet, the three schools serve fewer than 800 students.

Soon, just nine school board members will take the places of 25 as the two elementary schools and the regional school merge into one unified district.

On Thursday, nine board members — three from each school district — took on new roles on the Henry Hudson Regional transitional school board. This new, fourth school board will prepare the new preschool-through-grade 12 school district for its first school year, which will begin July 1.

"I think we're all excited to move forward," said Cory Wingerter, president of the Henry Hudson Regional transitional board. "We're just trying to figure out the right way to move forward. What's the best thing to do from here on out?"

Merging public school districts "has never been done before," said Superintendent Tara Beams, who heads all three districts. "This is the first time that this has been done comprehensively from pre-K through 12."

In 2022, New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill that provided financial incentives for small school districts to regionalize to provide more educational benefits to students at lower costs.

On Thursday, as one of its first acts, the Henry Hudson Regional transitional board voted to apply for a $400,000 implementation grant from New Jersey Local Efficiency Achievement Program to pay for regionalization.

"We have… until July 1 of 2024 to be up and operational as the new regional school district," said Beams. "We have the remainder of this school year (ending June 30) to get everything transferred, dissolved, completed, and be up and operational."

In September, residents in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands voted to merge all three school districts, a move that school officials said would save money over the long run by eliminating triplicated expenses and office positions. The unified district would also provide students with a cohesive learning experience, school leaders said.

Beams said that while some positions will be eliminated — there are currently two business administrators employed between the three schools — teaching positions will be preserved.

"This (merger) will help streamline a lot of that governance and operational side of the school district," she said. "Those are the really significant efficiencies that we're going to have."

A feasibility study by Kean University estimated that merging the districts would result in a one-time net savings of $270,000.

In addition to cost savings, the study found that "students will benefit from the additional and combined resources that will inherently come along with the advantages of one seamless PK-12 governance structure, which none of the three schools currently have in its entirety."

Wingerter, the transitional board president, said about a year and a half of preparation led to Thursday's meeting. He expects other school boards interested in combining will watch and learn from Henry Hudson Regional's experience.

"We're excited… and we're just happy to get going," he said.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Henry Hudson Regional school paves way for school mergers across NJ