Old Bridge Plans Elementary School Closure

Old Bridge Township Public Schools is moving ahead with a plan to close Leroy Gordon Cooper Elementary School and reassign its students to other buildings beginning in September, according to local reports and district scheduling materials. The proposal would reduce the Middlesex County district’s elementary school count from 11 to 10. (msn.com) Parents have responded with petitions and public appeals for more detail on how students and staff would be affected. The issue has become one of the district’s most closely watched spring decisions as the Board of Education continues meetings into May and June. (patch.com) ### Which school is the district planning to close? (oldbridgeadmin.org) Leroy Gordon Cooper Elementary School is the building identified for closure, according to reports by Patch, MyCentralJersey and NJ.com. The school is in the Cliffwood Beach section of Old Bridge, and the district’s website lists its address as 160 Birchwood Drive. September 2026 is the target date cited in coverage of the plan. Patch reported that the school would not reopen after students leave in June if the closure proceeds on that timeline, while NJ.com reported that all students at the school would be redistricted to neighboring schools in September. (msn.com) ### How big is the change for the district? Old Bridge currently operates 11 elementary schools, according to district pages listing its schools. Closing Cooper would bring that total to 10. The district serves a broader K-12 system in Old Bridge Township, and the elementary reorganization would affect an entire school community rather than a single grade or program. (msn.com) ABC7 New York reported that the district was reorganizing several elementary schools and dispersing Cooper’s student body across the system. ### Why are parents pushing back? (msn.com) Parents began circulating petitions in late April after the Board of Education announced plans to close Cooper, MyCentralJersey reported. The paper said families were demanding more transparency from the district as the plan moved forward. (oldbridgeadmin.org) NJ.com also reported that parents had launched a petition opposing the reassignment plan, and ABC7 quoted parents describing the proposal as a shock to the community. Those accounts focused on the loss of a neighborhood school and the effect of dispersing students to other campuses. (abc7ny.com) ### What has the district said publicly so far? Old Bridge Township Public Schools has publicly posted Board of Education meeting schedules and agenda information, but the district pages surfaced in search results did not provide a detailed public written explanation of the closure plan. The district website does show that a governance meeting scheduled for May 7 was postponed and that a public hearing was held on May 5. (mycentraljersey.com) The district’s YouTube channel also shows an agenda session on April 14 and a Board of Education meeting on April 21, indicating the issue was unfolding through regular board proceedings in April. (nj.com) ### What happens next? May 19 is the next regular Board of Education meeting listed on Cooper Elementary’s district calendar page, followed by an agenda session on June 9 and another regular meeting on June 23. Those dates give residents additional public forums to track any vote, implementation step or revised timeline tied to the closure plan. May 2026 district notices show the school system is still updating its meeting calendar, including the postponed May 7 governance session. (oldbridgeadmin.org) Families looking for the next official action can monitor the Board of Education agenda page and district events calendar for postings before each meeting. (oldbridgeadmin.org) (oldbridgeadmin.org) (youtube.com)