Governor Livingston High School stands to lose 230 students if its send-receive agreement with Mountainside expires June 30, 2027. That would amount to a 28% enrollment drop.

A commentary published Tuesday, Sept. 8, by NJ21st, written by an anonymous educator whose identity the outlet said it verified, warned that the loss would force cuts to courses, teaching staff and athletics at the Berkeley Heights high school.

The Berkeley Heights Board of Education's enrollment report from its Aug. 27 meeting shows GLHS has 836 students. Of those, 230 are from Mountainside, which operates its own K-8 district but sends high schoolers to Governor Livingston under a renewable agreement dating back to the last century. The current five-year deal began July 1, 2022.

Neither Berkeley Heights Superintendent Kim Feltre nor Mountainside Superintendent Christopher Kinney has made a public statement about the agreement's renewal status.

What a smaller GLHS would look like

Without Mountainside students, GLHS enrollment would fall to 606. The commentary noted that figure would make the school smaller than New Providence (about 650 students), Jonathan Dayton in Springfield (about 650), Madison (about 750) and Arthur L. Johnson in Clark (about 785).

GLHS enrollment stood between 1,000 and 1,100 as recently as the mid-2010s, according to the commentary.

"At this moment, it is not known where students from Mountainside will go to high school in fall 2027 and beyond," the educator wrote.

The commentary argued the damage would extend beyond the high school. Tenured GLHS teachers displaced by smaller class sizes could bump non-tenured staff at Berkeley Heights middle and elementary schools under seniority rules. The Aug. 27 board meeting also raised whether GLHS would need only one assistant principal instead of its current two, the commentary noted.

Mountainside eyes possible March referendum

Separately, TAPinto Mountainside reported Thursday, Sept. 3, that the Mountainside Board of Education said the district remains on schedule for a possible March 2027 referendum vote. Updates are still pending from the district's attorney and Berkeley Heights and Union County officials on the send-receive relationship, according to that report. The referendum's specific subject was not detailed.

The commentary speculated that Mountainside may be in discussions with other districts, including Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Westfield and Springfield. That claim is unconfirmed.

Mountainside's possible March 2027 referendum is the next public milestone for families tracking the agreement's future.