Seaside Heights voters rejected a proposal to merge their school district with a larger regional district. The ballot question was considered Tuesday by the four towns that make up Toms River Regional School District — Toms River, Pine Beach, Beachwood and South Toms River — along with Seaside Heights.

While towns in the Toms River Regional District overwhelmingly supported the merger, Seaside Heights voted no. Because it only took one town to block the plan, the result means that Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School in Seaside Heights will remain open indefinitely. It’s the only school in the Seaside Heights School District and currently serves about 180 K-6 students. Seaside Heights students go to Central Regional School District for middle and high school.

If the Seaside Heights and Toms River Regional districts had merged, Boyd Elementary would have closed after five years and Seaside Heights students of all grades would have been sent to Toms River.

The merger was supported by Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz, who argued it was the fiscally responsible thing to do for his borough, and by Toms River Regional’s administration, who said their district stood to gain significant revenue by taking in the Seaside Heights students. The merger was opposed by the teachers union in Seaside Heights, who warned the borough’s students would be harmed by not being able to attend a neighborhood school