Woodbine Freshmen to Enter Middle Township High School in September

WOODBINE – The ride to high school will be a bit shorter this September for about 15 freshmen from Woodbine. That’s due the July 29 decision by state Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf to permit eighth grade graduates from Woodbine to enter Middle Township High School instead of Millville High School. Pupils presently enrolled at Millville High School from Woodbine will graduate from there, to minimize impact on them.
Cerf visited the schools in June 2012 to visualize the setting and realize the student body makeup. Woodbine School District estimates it will save about $4,000 per student annually by the move, since it will pay Middle Township about $10,000 per student in tuition compared with about $14,000 in the Cumberland County district. It is estimated that the district would save about $200,000 when all its students are attending Middle Township High School.
Cerf’s decision notes that Woodbine applied for a change in designation of a receiving district for its high school pupils from Millville to Middle Township.
He noted that the City of Millville and Middle Township “having joined with petition in requesting a termination of the current sending-receiving relationship between petitioner and the Millville BOE and establishment of a new sending-receiving relationship between petitioner and the Middle Township BOE…”
He noted that Woodbine had conducted a feasibility study. Further, there was “no dispute amongst the parties as to certain relevant facts, including that no substantial educational, financial or racial impact will inure to any of the parties upon severance of the current sending-receiving relationship between petitioner and the Millville BOE, or upon establishment of the proposed sending-receiving relationship between petitioner and the Middle Township BOE.”
The withdrawal of Woodbine students from Millville High School then sending them to Middle Township “would cause no substantial negative impact on the educational programs of either the Millville or Middle Township High School or on the quality of education received by the pupils in each of the parties’ school districts,” Cerf added.
No negative impacts in financial condition were deemed to result from the action, he continued.
It was noted that one public comment had been received that did not conform to requirements, as it was “not accompanied by proof of service upon all parties to the case.” However, he noted that the comment was supportive of the action, and thus, would not have altered his decision.
Some Woodbine students presently attend Cape May County Technical School, about two miles north of Middle Township High School, but that is a county, not a township district.