NJ Town Explores Renaming School After President Trump

COLTS NECK, NJ — A Monmouth County public school could be renamed for President Donald Trump if a local school board member’s new proposal is approved.

During the Colts Neck Township Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, Board Member Robert Scales proposed the creation of an exploratory committee to rename one of the district’s schools as “Donald J. Trump Primary School.”

According to Scales, the school that would be renamed under the proposal is Conover Road Primary School, which currently serves students in preschool through second grade.

The primary school is one of three schools in the Colts Neck Township School District, and shares a similar name with Conover Road Elementary School, which serves grades three through five.

“It’s confusing having kind of the same name for two schools,” Scales said. “But I think if we look at who our true ally is, who we’re modeling things after, the birthday of America and someone who has contributed a great deal of time to this great town of Colts Neck, it would be our president Donald J. Trump.”

While no official action was taken on Scales’ proposal during Wednesday night’s meeting, his idea was met with support from some of his fellow board members.

“I think the branding association behind [the school] is critical because it sets a tone for generations to come,” Board Member Brian Scarpa said. “It’s something to consider. I’m all on board for considering the opportunity.”

In addition to potentially renaming Conover Road Primary School for President Trump, Board President Angelique Volpe also shared during Wednesday’s meeting that she and Board Member Kevin Walsh have reached out to Trump about him visiting the district.

If Trump does visit Colts Neck schools, it will follow a controversial visit from U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in late 2025.

• Read More: U.S. Secretary Of Education’s Visit To NJ School Sparks Petition, Concerns

“Just to be completely transparent, me and Kevin have reached out to the president and would love to have him visit our district as well,” Volpe said.

Though some members of the school board expressed their support for Scales’ renaming proposal, the idea has also faced pushback from the community.

In an online post, Matthew Jenkins, a Colts Neck resident who previously ran for Congress in New Jersey’s 4th district, slammed the proposal, arguing that attaching Trump’s name to a school would not be an honor, but rather “a political gesture that diminishes the seriousness of what our schools stand for.”

“School names are supposed to reflect the virtues we hope to instill in our children,” Jenkins said. “Integrity, humility, service, respect for the law and a commitment to community over self. Those are not abstract ideals; they are the foundation of public education and civic life.”

“Donald Trump does not embody those values,” Jenkins continued. “He represents division over unity, grievance over growth, personal loyalty over public responsibility…It is deeply disappointing to see a local board entrusted with stewarding our children’s education chase partisan symbolism instead of focusing on academic excellence and community cohesion.”

“Our schools deserve names that inspire all students, not ones that tether them to the most polarizing impulses in our politics,” he said. “We should demand better judgment from those who claim to lead.”

Patch has reached out to district and school board officials for comment on the proposal and for additional information on whether official action is expected to be taken on a potential renaming.

Though Superintendent MaryJane Garibay did not voice an opinion on the renaming proposal during Wednesday night’s meeting, she did give additional information on how Conover Road Primary School got its name.

“We were actually a beneficiary of the Conover Estate when they passed,” Garibay said. “That was one of the things we used to purchase playground equipment with. So [the school] is named after a landowner of Colts Neck.”

According to a report from NJ 101.5, if Scales’ proposal is approved, the school could become the first public school in the United States named after Trump.

You can read the agenda for Wednesday night’s meeting here.

To watch a full recording of Wednesday night’s meeting, you can watch here.

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