Beyond the Scoresheet

Breaking News: Morristown, Middletown South to Public B in 2012-13

August 19, 2012 on 4:11 pm | In breaking news | Comments Off on Breaking News: Morristown, Middletown South to Public B in 2012-13

I just saw that the NJSIAA has released its 2012-13 enrollment figures, and based on those numbers, I anticipate some big changes in which public schools are classified as Public A or Public B this year.

The big shocker is that two of last year’s four Public A semifinalists will be classified as Public B for 2012-13. Morristown, which reached the Public A championship game last year, has dropped to Public B with an enrollment of 1,033, down from 1,106 last year. There are three or four schools between the Colonials and the Public A tournament, depending on the status of East Side. That is a huge power swing and establishes Morristown as a firm preseason favorite in Public B. The Colonials had been classified as Public A since the inception of the two-class system in 2007-08. Middletown South, meanwhile, saw a huge dip in listed enrollment, from 1,120 to 944, and will also be in Public B. The Eagles were classified as Public B in 2010-11, when they lost to Chatham in the final, but have otherwise been in Public A.

One of the other major swing schools is Brick Township, which has swung back up to Public A with an enrollment of 1,104 (1,099 last year). Park Regional, with the combined enrollment of Hanover Park and Whippany Park coming in at 1,083 (1,051 last year), has also gone up to Public A. A full list of the changes and bubble teams is below.

These numbers are of course provisional and based on my calculations. Including East Side and newcomer Colts Neck, listing Dumont and Demarest as a single co-op, and assuming all of last year’s co-ops stayed the same (not always a safe assumption!), I count 106 public schools. The top 53 are Public A, the bottom 53 are Public B. The NJSIAA will of course have the last word on this, but for now, it looks like Morristown and Middletown South will join Kinnelon, Ramsey, Summit, and Tenafly as some of the Public B favorites.

Here’s a look at some of the schools on either side of the dividing line, going all the way down to Middletown South. Changes in italics.

School	Enroll.
TRS	1,105-A
Millburn	1,105-A (up)
Brick Township	1,104-A (up)
Colts Neck	1,091-A (new)
Park Regional (co-op)	1,083-A (up)
Roxbury	1,082-A
Middletown North	1,080-A
Mount Olive	1,073-A
Public A/Public B dividing line
Woodbridge	1,055-B (down)
Manasquan (co-op)	1,047-B (down)
West Morris Central	1,043-B
Montville	1,037-B
Morristown	1,033-B (down)
Colonia	1,028-B
Old Tappan	1,027-B
West Morris Mendham	1,019-B
JFK Memorial (Iselin)	1,008-B
Hightstown	1,007-B
Princeton	1,003-B
Wayne Hills	998-B
East Side	998-B (back?)
Vernon	997-B
Jackson Liberty	992-B
Northern Highlands	991-B
Paramus	990-B
Nutley	989-B
Passaic Valley	973-B
West Milford	949-B
Middletown South	944-B (down)