Lakewood Public Schools is fighting back against a planned state takeover, planning to spend $115,000 in a legal challenge to the Department of Education’s Order to Show Cause. In a letter printed below from Superintendent Laura Winters, the School Board argues its fiscal predicament — an inability to fund 50,000 non-public schools students who attend Jewish day schools plus expenses for the 4,241 kids enrolled in the district — has led to its broken budget. (Currently Lakewood owes the state $280 million in loans it will never pay back. )

The state’s justification for the takeover, according to the Order, is the ““severe educational and administrative deficiencies [that] are still pervasive in the district, depriving Lakewood’s public school students of a constitutionally sufficient education.” Also, there are problems with chronic absenteeism and crazy-high administrative costs, like paying the district lawyer Michael Inzelbuch about $5 million in five years, more than any school attorney anywhere.

Here are three takeaways from Lakewood’s letter:

• The Board says it has already been subject to a kind of state takeover due to the state’s appointment of a fiscal monitor, a requirement for any district that has to borrow money to pay expenses. There have been 11 different monitors over the last decade, all mostly ineffective until the last one proved tough. (She overturned the Board’s plan to retain Inzelbuch and approved the budget over the Board’s objections). It’s true that the district has been subject to fiscal oversight but a state takeover is different than the limited role of a monitor. If the state takeover goes forward, it will appoint a new superintendent and emasculate the school board, changing its status from decision-maker to advisory. So the comparison between a fiscal monitor and a complete takeover is apples and oranges.
• The Board says — correctly!— that the current state school funding formula does not make room for Lakewood’s “extraordinary demographic and socioeconomic context,” i.e., more than ten times as many kids attending religious schools as kids enrolled in district schools (District enrollment is dropping fast, down 700 students from 2022-2024, the most most recent data available.) But Lakewood, the fastest growing city in NJ, is running out of room and Haredi families (ultra-Orthodox Jews) are moving to nearby school districts (mostly Toms River, Brick, Jackson, Howell) which are starting to face the same fiscal strain for non-public students.
• Example: Toms River’s costs for tuition, probably mostly to yeshivas although the state doesn’t specify, is up $1.4 million over two years and so is transportation. Howell’s tuition allocations are up an astounding $10.2 million. Brick’s is up $1.3 million. Over time, Lakewood will lose its sui generis status as Haredi families spread out. The state and the Legislature should change the funding formula for sure, but until then Lakewood has to make it work. Given the ongoing budget holes, a state takeover (especially considering some of the outlandish expenses, the poor in-district student outcomes, and the inability to inject accountability into private special education costs) may be the only answer.
• Finally, those in-district students need help! Back in 2013 the Asbury Park Press published a series of articles called “Cheated” that exposed Lakewood’s “mismanagement, free-spending and loose oversight,” drilling down hard on the neglect of mostly low-income Hispanic students. (It’s no longer online but see here.) While there have been some improvements in proficiency scores, four out of five third-graders can’t read at grade level and only 13 percent of sixth-graders can pass the state math test. They are still cheated.

Here is the letter:

The Lakewood Board of Education affirms its unwavering commitment to the students, families, staff, and community we serve, and to the principles of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

The Board has carefully reviewed the New Jersey Department of Education’s recent Order to Show Cause regarding a proposed Full State Takeover and has serious concerns regarding its selective reliance on outdated and inaccurate information, as well as its failure to fully and fairly account for the District’s current performance, documented progress, and overall operating context.

For more than a decade, the Lakewood School District has operated under extensive State oversight, including the presence of State Monitors and continuous reporting to the NJDOE. Since 2014, the District has worked under the supervision of eleven (11) different State Monitors, reflecting frequent changes in State-appointed leadership during the oversight period. Despite these transitions, the District has implemented numerous reforms—many at the direction and/or approval of the State—across governance, finance, instruction, student services, and operational systems.

Importantly, no Lakewood School District school has been designated as “in need of improvement” since 2018. Lakewood High School exited Priority School status in 2018 and subsequently exited Focus School status in 2023, reflecting sustained progress and compliance with State accountability benchmarks. These determinations underscore the District’s continued improvement under State oversight.

The District has demonstrated meaningful and sustained progress in student outcomes over time. Indicators related to student engagement, completion, academic growth, and subgroup performance reflect steady improvement, including outcomes that compare favorably to statewide measures in multiple areas, particularly for historically underserved student populations. These outcomes are especially significant given the District’s extraordinary demographic and socioeconomic context. The District serves a student population with substantially higher concentrations of poverty, Multilingual Learners, and other high-need characteristics than the State as a whole. Such factors are widely recognized as compounding challenges in educational performance analyses and must be considered when evaluating district outcomes and determining constitutional adequacy.

Throughout the years of State oversight, former State Monitors have consistently acknowledged that Lakewood’s central challenge has not been mismanagement, but a structural revenue shortfall. The Board is deeply concerned that the longstanding issue of a failed State funding formula—one that does not adequately account for the District’s unique demographics, enrollment realities, and statutory obligations—has largely gone unaddressed, this approach has come at significant cost to the integrity of the current Administration, despite documented progress, compliance efforts, and sustained collaboration with the State.

The Board is particularly concerned that a decision of such magnitude does not adequately reflect the District’s documented trajectory of improvement, the effectiveness of reforms implemented under ongoing State oversight, or the stability achieved across District schools. A proposed governance action as significant as a Full State Takeover must be evaluated in light of current outcomes, sustained progress, and the totality of circumstances affecting the District.

The Lakewood Board of Education remains committed to working collaboratively with the New Jersey Department of Education to address concerns in a constructive and student-centered manner. At the same time, the Board has a fiduciary and moral obligation to defend the integrity of the District, ensure that the public record is complete and accurate, and protect the stability of the educational environment for Lakewood’s students and staff.

Accordingly, the District will formally respond to the Order to Show Cause, presenting comprehensive data, evidence of sustained progress, and information reflecting present conditions. The Board is confident that a full and balanced review of the record will demonstrate that a Full State Takeover is neither warranted nor in the best interest of the Lakewood community.

The Board of Education remains focused on its core mission: providing a safe, stable, and high-quality education for every student in the Lakewood School District.