Asbury Park Public Schools is aroil with suspense after news broke an hour ago that Superintendent Rashawn Adams has announced a “press conference” for noon today.

Let’s play catch-up.

• Two days ago, every staff member received a Rice notice, which means their continued employment will be discussed at either the December meeting or the reorganization meeting scheduled for January 4th. (See below.) Oddly, the notice was sent out a week after the December meeting.. Its time stamp also coincides with a party for an administrator where Adams was reportedly celebrating and doing karaoke.

• Last night the Asbury Park Education Association responded with its own notice to members (see below), advising that everyone exercise due process and demand any discussion of their employment take place in public session, not in private. This requires members to inform Melissa Simmons, the interim Business Administrator, of their preference. APEA adds “Please also ask why you did not receive this RICE notice prior to the December 2023 Board meeting!”

• Adams followed up this morning with an email to all staff saying the purpose of the Rice notices is “to provide a clear and unfiltered conversation with the newly elected board” as they contemplate a $7 million cut in state aid due to years of inflated school funding and declining student enrollment. Also, according to sources, he’s scheduled that mysterious press conference.

What’s going on?

All we have is conjecture.

After results of November’s school board election came in, Adams may have realized he’s lost the “rubber stamp” nature of a school board he’d been accustomed to. There is other change afoot: Carol Morris, the previous fiscal state monitor for the last decade, was replaced last month by Robert Finger, formerly the state monitor for Lakewood. Details are unclear but at the last Board meeting Finger reportedly interfered with a board vote and was ousted.

Meanwhile, student behavior at the middle school is out of control, student proficiency in reading and math is rock-bottom, and the community is so frustrated they voted for board members who promised “thoughtful, transparent, and immediate change in our school district.”

This is a developing story.

Here are the emails:

From superintendent Adams to all employees:

December 19, 2023 VIA EMAIL ONLY Re: Rice Notice Dear Employee, This letter is to inform you that the Asbury Park Board of Education may discuss and/or act upon a matter involving your employmentat the next regularly scheduled board meetings, during the months of December 2023 and January 2024 at the Bradley Elementary School, 1100 Third Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ 07712. The Board intendst o discuss matters pertaining to your employment,specifically status of employment, in closed executive session during the above-referenced Board meeting; however, pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-12(b)(8), and Rice v. Union County Regional High School Board of Education, 155 N.J. Super. 64 (App.Div.1977), cert. denied, 76 N.J. 238 (1978), you have the right to request that the Board discuss the matters pertaining to your employment during the public portion of the aforementioned meeting. Should you wish to have the Board discuss your employment during the public portion of the meeting, your waiver must be submitted in writing, addressed to Dr. Simmons, Interim School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, and received on or before 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 21, 2023. The waiver should be emailed to Simmonsm@apboe.org. Kindly note that any formal Board action regarding your employment mustt ake place during the public session of the aforementioned Board meeting. Please contact me should you have any questions regarding this etter. Sincerely, Df47 Dr RaShawn M. Adams Superintendent of Schools /ml cc: Personnel File STUDENT CENTERED, PROCESS DRIVEN, OUTCOME FOCUSED

From APEA to all employees:

Good Evening,

All APSD staff received a RICE notice yesterday, 12/19/2023 “conveniently”at 2:41pm via email. This RICE notice is in reference to the December 2023 Board of Education Meeting and the January 2024 Board of Education meeting however, the December 2023 meeting already took place on 12/14/2023. 

As stated in this notice, “you have the right to request that the Board discuss the matters pertaining to your employment during the public portion of the aforementioned meeting. Should you wish to have the Board discuss your employment during the public portion of the meeting, your waiver must be submitted in writing, addressed to Dr.Simmons, interim school business administrator/board secretary, and received on or before 11:00am on Thursday, December 21, 2023. The waiver should be emailed to : simmonsm@apboe.org.”

It is strongly recommended that all staff concerned about “the matters pertaining to their employment“ email Dr. Simmons by 11:00am tomorrow 12/21/23 to request that these matters be discussed in the public portion of the January 2024 Board of Education meeting. 

Please also ask why you did not receive this RICE notice prior to the December 2023 Board meeting!

While we understand that this RICE  notice may be  cause for  anxiety, let it remind us of how much we are valued by the current central office administration (especially around the holidays).

Remember we do have rights and we all have the right to ask WHY??! 

While we give John time to grieve his loss and be with his family, please contact any other APEA exec. team member in your building should you require assistance. 

In the interim, all APEA correspondence will come from the APEA secretary, Danielle Petrucci . 

Danielle Petrucci, Secretary – TMES 

Mike Zajac, VP – APHS 

Mike Byers , VP – DMLK

Sean Hamilton, Treasurer – TMES

Stephanie Kelly, Grievance Chair – BES

From Adams to all employees:

Good Morning Asbury Park Staff,

The purpose of the Rice Notice to all staff is to provide a clear and unfiltered conversation with the newly elected board. This conversation with the APBOE members will take place at our reorganization meeting the first week of January. This meeting will take place several weeks before our regular monthly scheduled meeting.

This budgetary conversation will focus on the entire district and the pending $7 million dollar reduction that Asbury Park School District is projected to encounter for 2024-2025 school year.

No personnel actions will take place as a result of the conversation at this meeting.

Thank you for your anticipated understanding in this matter!

Happy Holiday’s

Dr. RaShawn M. Adams