Despite Community Efforts, Low Student Enrollment Closed Solomon Schechter

By Jennifer Bradshaw 

The closure of Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley comes as a disappointment, but its closure is certainly not from a lack of trying to keep it open. 

"It's an incredible school," said East Brunswick Jewish Center co-director Eric Rabinowitz. "Having it come to this end saddens a lot of people."

School head Rabbi Stuart Saposh did not return requests for comment for this article. 

The school announced Monday via its Facebook page that after three decades, it would not be able to welcome students back for the 2013-14 school year.

According to a report in the Jewish Daily Forward, parents were told in an August 7 email from the school that its board had voted to close down the school due to financial problems. 

Community meetings were held to discuss options for keeping the school open, at which point parents and friends of the school rallied to raise $150,000 for it, Rabinowitz said.

Unfortunately, it was too late. 

With only three weeks left until the start of the school year, the majority of parents had already taken their children out of the school and enrolled them elsewhere, mainly East Brunswick Public Schools, Solomon Schechter schools in West Orange and Marlboro and Hatikvah International Academy Charter School, Rabinowitz said.

"The community really stepped up and raised over $150,000 which was what we were told we needed to raise based on a certain number of students (60)," Rabinowitz said. "We got much less than that."

According to the Jewish Daily Forward, at the final parent meeting, 40 students were still enrolled in the school, a number too small to sustain it. 

"Initially it was a money issue, then it became a student issue," Rabinowitz said. "If you don't have enough sudents to fill the grades, then you don't have a school."

Rabinowitz said there's no ill will against the families who made the decision to leave Solomon Schechter to ensure their children had a place to attend school in September. 

"The parents did the right thing," he said. 

Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley was an admired school in the East Brunswick community, earning the respected Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence a few years ago. 

The school's web site has been mostly taken down, replaced with a farewell message to the community.

"We wish all our parents good fortune for their children in the schools they attend, thank all our faculty and staff who have nurtured our students throughout the years and all those who stood with us this past week and supported our efforts despite many questions and in the face of uncertainty," the message said. "Jewish education will continue and the Jewish people will survive and strive, but this phase of Jewish education in our Community has come to a sudden and unfortunate end."