District Files Consolidated Answer in Rodrick Civil Case

On February 26, 2026, the Middletown Township Board of Education voted 5–4 to direct administration to prepare the 2026–2027 budget including the closure of Leonardo Elementary School and Navesink Elementary School. The vote came after hours of emotional public testimony and visibly divided debate among Board members. In the same meeting, under the Personnel consent agenda, the Board formally accepted the retirement of Superintendent Jessica Alfone, effective July 1, 2026.

Taken together, those actions set the district on a course toward elementary consolidation while entering a leadership transition with no publicly outlined search process and no detailed implementation roadmap. Multiple residents referenced potential legal action during public comment. The district now moves forward with structural change amid uncertainty about oversight, continuity, and compliance.

In March 2025, the Middletown Township Board of Education stood at a crossroads. Faced with a significant operating shortfall, district leaders publicly discussed closing multiple elementary schools. The proposal prompted community to rally around their neighborhood schools. In the weeks that followed, the Board adopted a 10.1 percent tax levy increase and described the decision as a bridge, one that would allow time for strategic planning and a more deliberate, data driven path forward.

Nearly one year later, the February 19, 2026 workshop meeting returned to many of the same structural questions. Consolidation and redistricting scenarios were again part of the public conversation, this time alongside updated multi year deficit projections and news that the superintendent will retire at the end of the school year. The district now approaches another budget deadline with overlapping decisions about finances, facilities, and leadership.

This article reviews the public budget record, the strategic planning process launched in 2025, and the February 19 workshop discussion as reflected in meeting materials and board presentations.

January 6 — not that one — was a busy day for New Jersey Republicans. As news circulated announcing that Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon had been elected chair of the state GOP¹, something quieter was happening online. Articles about Alex Zdan began disappearing from Central Jersey Newswire, an “independent outlet” with previously documented ties to the Monmouth County Republican Committee.

The timing raises a question: on the eve of county endorsements for the 2026 U.S. Senate race, does this digital cleanup signal shifting Republican support within Monmouth County?

New Jersey’s unique county line system gives local party committees unusual influence over primary elections. In many counties, an endorsement by party leadership can shape ballot position and, by extension, the likely outcome of a primary.

This year, Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Cory Booker is seeking re-election. On the Republican side, no consensus candidate has emerged. That vacuum has made early county conventions especially significant.

County conventions are scheduled throughout February and March². Last week, Passaic County Republicans endorsed Alex Zdan for the U.S. Senate race against Booker. The endorsement positions Zdan as an early favorite in at least one key North Jersey county.

But the picture in Monmouth County appears more complicated.

A new civil lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Monmouth County raises questions about how the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office moderates comments on its official Facebook page and whether those practices violate state constitutional free-speech protections.

The case¹, brought by Laurie Tietjen against the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Shaun Golden, alleges that her comments on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page were selectively restricted or hidden from public view through a practice commonly described as “shadowbanning,” while remaining visible to her when she was logged into her account.