In a special election on Tuesday, voters in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands in Monmouth County approved the merging of their K-6 elementary school districts with the Henry Hudson Regional District, which currently serves middle school and high school students. The move, which has been pushed for years, will combine three boards of education and three budgets into one.
The new regional district is slated to be up and running by July 2024. The original plan called for nearby Sea Bright to also join the merger, but other districts that are currently receiving Sea Bright students have blocked that effort. The issue of Sea Bright being left out stirred economic concerns for some Highlands leaders, but local school officials said they expect Sea Bright will eventually be added to the new regional district.
