After steep deficits, longstanding governance issues, and years of monitoring, New Jersey is moving for a full takeover of Lakewood’s troubled school district. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration moved to take over Lakewood’s school district Wednesday, arguing that a slew of governance issues had deprived students there of the thorough education entitled to them by the state’s constitution.
In an order to show cause, the Department of Education said the township had failed to root out “pervasive, endemic educational and operational failures” first flagged more than 15 years ago and had continued to mismanage its resources at the cost of its students.
“For more than a decade, the New Jersey Department of Education has been working with the Lakewood Township School District to address ongoing fiscal and operational concerns that impact students, staff, parents, and the entire Lakewood community,” said Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer. “For all of those impacted, most especially the students of Lakewood, we are obligated to intervene.”
The bid for a state takeover was first reported by the New Jersey Globe.
Lakewood, home to about 142,000 residents, is perhaps the most unique school district in New Jersey. Only 4,112 students were enrolled in October 2024, according to state data, compared to more than 50,000 who attended private religious schools, called yeshivas.
As a result, the district has spent heavily on transportation, special education, and other aid to its non-public schools, and that spending has built massive deficits into the district’s budget over time.
The district’s budget for the 2025-2026 school year includes a loan of about $100 million from the state. That followed nearly $200 million in loans over the prior two school years.
Sen. Bob Singer (R-Ocean), a Lakewood resident who has represented the township in the Legislature for 40 years, acknowledged the district’s issues but said it is too early to determine whether a state takeover could resolve them.
“We realize there’s been problems with the schools. We realize there’s been a shortfall of money, and we have to wait and see what the state does when they take it over,” he told the New Jersey Monitor.
If the State Board of Education approves the takeover, the state would appoint a new superintendent and business administrator, along with other professionals to oversee governance, fiscal management, and operations, including services for non-public students.
The township’s elected school board would remain in place in an advisory capacity and would gain new members appointed by the education commissioner.
A state intervention plan released alongside Wednesday’s court filing calls for the district and department to draft an improvement plan for the commissioner’s approval within six months of the full state takeover, though the intervention is likely to last far longer.
The state’s intervention in Newark’s public school system lasted 25 years before full control was returned to local officials.
Some Lakewood residents have previously charged that the state’s school funding formula is responsible for the district’s funding woes, though an appeals court ruling denied those claims in September, finding mismanagement, a failure to raise local taxes, and heavy spending on transportation and special education were clearer causes.
The takeover’s timing — initiated just six days before Gov. Phil Murphy leaves office — raised some questions about continuity. Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who takes office Tuesday, has not announced whether she will renominate Dehmer or replace him.
Singer said Dehmer told him this would be a yearlong process.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, and I’d like to have the continuity of knowing the person I’m dealing with is the person who can be there from the beginning to the end,” he said.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
