You know something’s up when the incumbents for a school board race criticize their own district. 

That’s what’s happening in Asbury Park. 

There, six candidates are running for three seats, a hot race given the desultory level of interest in New Jersey this year for sitting on a school board: 18% of school boards in the state have fewer candidates than there are open seats. 

But not in Asbury Park, where school board veterans are taking the district to task for profligate spending habits and poor student outcomes.

Here’s incumbent Joe Grillo at the recent forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Monmouth County: “the district was ignored for 30 years and laid to waste because of corruption, malfeasance and disorganization. I voted ‘no’ multiple times on redundancies and positions, most recently at the last meeting where there was an attempt to put an assistant superintendent on board, and we stopped that. I also believe in selling off the real estate that is not being used.” 

Here’s incumbent Anthony Remy, running on a slate with Grillo: “When it came time to vote for more administrators, we voted ‘no’ because we know it is not working. … We need to do what is right for the children and get them programs, more resources.”

The competition agrees. Here’s board-hopeful Craig DiPaola, who says the city is thriving but not the schools. “Sell off real estate that this school administration is holding. But I think one of the most important things to address the top-heavy administration costs. The board has the power to do this,” DiPaola said. “I think we need to call for an internal audit, one that begins and ends with the request of the board. I would love to see this (administration) audited through an objective lens, see what jobs are important.”

Everyone agrees: the district needs to stop paying for unused property (Barack Obama Elementary School, empty as enrollment shrinks, and a maintenance building on Second Avenue) and stop the compulsive hiring of additional administrators in a pre-K-12 district with lower enrollment than some high schools. 

The data backs this up. According to newly-released data from the New Jersey Taxpayer’s Guide to Educational Spending, in school year 2022-2023 in NJ the average ratio of students to administrators is 147.5, i.e., there’s an administrator for every 147 or so students. In Asbury Park, the ratio of students to is 80.5, or 81 students for every administrator. 

How about the amount of money to spend for each student,  which has been dropping in the district because our funding formula ties aid to enrollment? The 2023 Taxpayer’s Guide put the cost per pupil in Asbury Park at $26,168, which means the district gets more per pupil than almost any other district in the state, including those with more disadvantaged students. 

It’s not going to get better: the Asbury Park Press reports that school enrollment is dropping across South Jersey (in fact, across the country) due to a combination of lower birth rates, renewed interest in homeschooling, and the growing popularity of public charter schools, especially in low-performing districts. This past year Asbury Park Public Schools transferred $11 million of state funding to local charters. (The money follows the child; if the child leaves, the money—except for a chunk the district keeps—leaves too.)

I’m glad the candidates are eager to dial back a culture of administrative obesity. I wish they had more to say about children relegated to a district where only 12% of third-graders can read at grade-level, no Asbury Park student in elementary school reaches proficiency levels in math, and only 5% of high school students can pass a basic skills test. 

Maybe they’ll talk about students at the next candidates forum