PRESS RELEASE

The Middletown Township Board of Education and its representative business team annually prepares a fiscally sound budget within the guidelines of the State Department of Education. The 2004-5 budget was presented to and voted upon affirmatively by township residents in April, 2004. The Board of Education received notice on July 9, 2004 from the New Jersey Department of Education that recent New Jersey legislative action designated S1701 and A99 was now in force and that the school district was directed to designate $1,285,155 for tax levy reduction from this current budget.

Of this amount, $1,000,000 represented an estimate of funds the District may generate from the 2003-4 budget. The remaining $285,155 represented the amount of actual, audited surplus in excess of 3%. Prior to this legislative action, our actual surplus was at 3.2%, which was within (and at the very low end of) the State’s previous 3% - 6% surplus guidelines. Consistent with our long-range financial plan, the actual, audited surplus generated from the 2003-4 budget will be used as tax relief for the 2005-6 budget. This amount will not be known and available until the conclusion of our annual audit in November 2004. To utilize estimated surplus for the 2004-5 budget will cause more significant tax increases over the next couple of years, and will effectively destroy the careful long-range financial planning that has been implemented by the Middletown Board of Education for several years. Therefore, the District has certified $285,155 for tax levy reduction, which is the actual, audited surplus in excess of 3%.

At this time the Business Administrator/Board Secretary, William J. Doering, and the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. David L. Witmer, have communicated with the State Department of Education and have asked for a formal response to the District’s questions, including documentation regarding the legality of altering the taxes to be raised after a budget has been approved by the voters. The District will provide further communications as we continue to analyze the specific requirements of this new law; a law that threatens to undermine the foundation of the educational program we have proudly developed in Middletown.

Contact: William Doering 732.671.3850 x 1029