municipalities after that date. Constructed at a cost of $3.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ), Toms River High School North opened in 1969 in order to alleviate overcrowding in the original high school (which was renamed as Toms River High School South), which was found to be too small to accommodate the fast-growing community. When the school opened it served students living north of Route 37, while those living south of that line would attend Toms River South, including those from the constituent districts of Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River. The first class to graduate wasn't until 1971, since all of the seniors were kept at TRHSS for the class of 1970. By 1974, the district was facing split sessions for students, as the district's first and second high schools, Toms River High School South and Toms River High School North, had a total of 4,600 students, nearly 50% above capacity. To address the overcrowding, a March 1975 bond referendum was proposed to raise $15 million -- the largest ever in county history -- for construction of a third high school, which was rejected by a margin of nearly a 1,000 votes. Toms River High School East opened in September 1979 on a site in a building constructed at a cost of $10.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Opened at a time of rising energy prices, the building was designed so that each classroom had only two windows in order to reduce heat loss through the glass. After the Seaside Park School District closed in 2010, a sending / receiving relationship was established to allow students in grades K-6 from Seaside Park to attend the Toms River Schools. In 2017, the Appellate Division affirmed a decision by the New Jersey Department of Education allowing students from Seaside Park the option of attending school for grades K-6 in either Toms River or in the Lavallette School District, under the terms of a dual sending/receiving relationship. The Lavallette district had actively supported the proposal when the original petition was submitted in 2015 and the Appellate Division rejected the objections raised by the Toms River district, noting that no protest had been made when Seaside Park had submitted its original petition. Toms River Regional Schools has denied continued outside requests for racially insensitive mascots depicting Native Americans to be retired, including the Toms River High School South