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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Asbury Park Public Schools
Asbury Park Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district headquartered in Asbury Park, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving children in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

Students from nearby Allenhurst, Loch Arbour and Interlaken no longer attend the district's schools as part of a sending/receiving relationship.

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprising four schools, had an enrollment of 1,771 students and 175.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.1:1.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

History

In 2009, the board of education voted to rename Bangs Avenue Elementary School in honor of President Barack Obama.

In March 2011, the state monitor overseeing the district's finances ordered that Barack Obama Elementary School be closed after the end of the 2010–11 school year, citing a 35% decline in enrollment in the district during the prior 10 years. Students then attending the school would be reallocated to the district's two other elementary schools, with those going into fifth grade assigned to attend middle school. In 2014, the Barack Obama Elementary School reopened, and Asbury Park Middle School, later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, reverted to serving students only from grade 6–8.

In July 2014, the New Jersey Department of Education approved a request by Interlaken under which it would end its sending relationship with the Asbury Park district and begin sending its students to the West Long Branch Public Schools through eighth grade and then onto Shore Regional High School. Loch Arbour and Allenhurst followed Interlaken out of Asbury Park schools and over to West Long Branch and Shore Regional.

Students from Deal had attended the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship that was terminated after the Deal district filed in petition in 2016 and after it was approved was replaced with an agreement with Shore Regional.

With an annual cut in aid of $3.4 million for the 2019-20 school year and more on the way for subsequent years, the district was considering a reconfiguration of the district under which Obama Elementary School would be closed, the two remaining elementary schools would serve PreK-3, the middle school would serve grades 4-6 and the high school would cover grades 7-12. The district, which was spending a total cost per pupil of $42,382 in 2017–18, was the subject of an audit in 2019 which found that the district had a capacity to serve 3,095, but an enrollment of 1,862 in 2017–18, a decline from 2,132 nearly a decade earlier. A 2019 audit

Obama Elementary was closed again in 2020 due to a lack of students.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:

Elementary schools
  • Bradley Elementary School with 301 students in grades PreK-5
    • Thea M. Jackson-Byers, principal
  • Thurgood Marshall Elementary School with 247 students in grades PreK-5
    • Lauren Schulze, principal
Middle school
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upper Elementary School (later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School) with 370 students in grades 6-8
    • Perry J. Medina, principal
High school

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

  • RaShawn M. Adams, superintendent
  • Melissa Simmons, interim business administrator and board secretary
  • Carole Morris, State Monitor

In 2014, interim superintendent Robert Mahon resigned, expressing his frustration with the direction of the district after the board of education had been unable to hire a permanent superintendent; he was one of four superintendents that the district had gone through in a six-year period. Gregory Allen was chosen in July 2014 to succeed Mahon as interim superintendent at that time. Lamont Repollet served as superintendent from October 2014 to January 2018, when he was named to serve as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. On May 11, 2020, Repollet was named president of Kean University in Union, New Jersey.

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of nine members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.

References

  1. ^ District information for Asbury Park School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. ^ Asbury Park Board of Education District Policy: Identification, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The Asbury Park School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the City of Asbury Park."
  4. ^ What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
  5. ^ What We Do, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
  6. ^ SDA Districts, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
  7. ^ 13 Non-Operating School Districts Eliminated, New Jersey Department of Education press release dated July 1, 2009. Accessed December 25, 2009.
  8. ^ Stine, Don (August 7, 2017). "Allenhurst Ends Sending-Receiving Relationship with Asbury Park School District". The Coaster. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  9. ^ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 9, 2014.
  10. ^ Star-Ledger, Michael Rispoli/The (August 29, 2009). "Asbury Park votes to rename school after President Obama". nj. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  11. ^ Shields, Nancy. "State monitor orders Asbury's Barack Obama School closed", Asbury Park Press, March 18, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2011.
  12. ^ Board of Education of the Borough of Interlaken v. Board of Education of the City of Asbury Park, et al., New Jersey Department of Education, July 17, 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. "IT IS ORDERED on this 17th day of July 2014 that – pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-13 and N.J.A.C. 6A:3-6.1 – the application of Interlaken for severance of its send-receive relationship with Asbury Park and to establish send-receive relationship with West Long Branch and Shore Regional, as set forth in its petition of appeal, is APPROVED."
  13. ^ Reorganization Agenda January 7, 2016 Archived October 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Shore Regional High School. Accessed October 21, 2018. "Whereas, the content of the announcement was to advise the public that the Deal Board of Education filed a Petition of Appeal with the Commissioner of Education to sever its Sending-Receiving Relationship with the Asbury Park Board of Education, and to establish a new Sending-Receiving Relationship with the Shore Regional High School Board of Education"
  14. ^ Strupp, Joe. "Asbury Park Schools shake-up would close one school, expand high school grades", Asbury Park Press, July 8, 2019. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The changes come as the district is facing a multi-million dollar state aid cutback that has already meant a 13 percent drop in state aid of $3.4 million for the 2019–2020 school year, Gray stated. She added that estimates of state funding losses through 2025 amount to nearly $25 million."
  15. ^ Strupp, Joe. "State audit: Asbury Park schools need to consolidate and strengthen approval policies", Asbury Park Press, December 4, 2019. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The audit by State Auditor Stephen Eells was a follow-up to a similar review done in 2011 that criticized the district's then-per-pupil spending of $24,306, more than $7,000 above the state average and the highest in the state. It is now at $42,382, according to data released in August.... The audit found that the district population had dropped from 2,132 in 2008-2009 to 1,985 in 2012-2013 and 1,862 in 2017–2018. That has resulted in a reduction in class size for many schools and a waste of resources in others, it said. The data revealed that the district's five schools — three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school — have a capacity for 3,095 students, but enroll just 1,862."
  16. ^ Waters, Laura (July 8, 2021). "What's Good Enough for Asbury Park Students Isn't Good Enough for the Top Brass: Asbestos, Anyone?". NJ Education Report. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  17. ^ School Data for the Asbury Park Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
  18. ^ Our Schools, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 28, 2020.
  19. ^ District Administration, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 28, 2020.
  20. ^ School Performance Reports for the Asbury Park School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
  21. ^ County School list A-D, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  22. ^ New Jersey School Directory for the Asbury Park Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  23. ^ Bradley Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  24. ^ Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  25. ^ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upper Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  26. ^ "Home". mlk.asburypark.k12.nj.us. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  27. ^ Asbury Park High School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  28. ^ Central Administration, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed November 18, 2022.
  29. ^ New Jersey School Directory for Monmouth County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  30. ^ Business Office, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 21, 2024.
  31. ^ Terry, Nicquel. "Who is Asbury's school monitor?", Asbury Park Press, July 25, 2014. Accessed October 21, 2018. "Morris, 75, of Neptune, took the job in September, the fifth monitor for the city since 2007. She has the last say over who the school board hires, fires and how it spends its tax dollars. She also holds the authority to override any action by a school administrator or vote by the school board."
  32. ^ Terry, Nicquel ."Inside Asbury ed board's fights", The Journal News, July 11, 2014, updated January 13, 2015. Accessed January 28, 2020. "Interim schools superintendent Robert Mahon had enough. First, there was the failed superintendent search. The nine-member school board spent the past year in arguments, litigation and division over the selection of a schools chief.... The next day, Mahon resigned.... There have been six directors of curriculum in the past five years, four superintendents in six years and five state monitors since 2007."
  33. ^ Terry, Nicquel. "Asbury picks interim schools chief", The Journal News, July 10, 2014. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The city's Board of Education has voted to appoint Gregory Allen for its interim superintendent, nearly eight months after the state overturned Allen for the permanent schools chief position."
  34. ^ Zimmer, Russ. "Repollet leaving amid Asbury schools resurgence", Asbury Park Press, January 12, 2018. Accessed January 28, 2020. "As Lamont Repollet prepares to take charge of the state's education apparatus, he leaves behind an Asbury Park School District that is simultaneously struggling and improving.... Repollet, 47, came to Asbury Park in October 2014 from Carteret, where he had been high school principal for nine years."
  35. ^ New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
  36. ^ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Asbury Park School District, New Jersey Department of Education, year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed March 27, 2024. "The School District is a Type II district located in the County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board is comprised of nine members appointed to three-year terms. These terms are staggered so that three members’ terms expire each year. The District provides a full range of educational services appropriate to grades levels Preschool through 12th grade."
  37. ^ Board of Education, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 21, 2024. "The Asbury Park Board of Education is responsible for setting the policies, goals and objectives for the district - and works with the Superintendent in making sure those goals are achieved."
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