In one of its final and most consequential actions before leaving office, the administration of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is moving to place the Lakewood public school system under full state control, a step that would remove authority from the locally elected school board and install a state-appointed monitor with sweeping powers.

An Order to Show Cause is expected to be filed as early as today by Acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer, initiating a legal process that could result in a state takeover of the Lakewood School District. The move comes just days before Murphy leaves office, a timing that would shift responsibility for implementing the takeover to Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill.

State officials say Lakewood’s financial condition has deteriorated beyond repair under its current governance structure, following more than a decade of recurring annual deficits, rising transportation and special-education costs, and repeated emergency loans from the state that the district has been unable to repay. Critics have described the district as functionally insolvent, relying on state aid to remain operational without a viable long-term plan for stability.

Lakewood’s situation is unique in New Jersey and rare nationally. Tens of thousands of children attend over 180 private schools in the township — the vast majority Orthodox Jewish institutions — while approximately 5,000 students are enrolled in the public school system. Statewide, private-school enrollment averages about 14 percent.

That imbalance has driven an unsustainable budgetary structure. The Lakewood Board of Education now spends more on transportation for private-school students than it does on classroom instruction for its public-school students. Public schools, whose enrollment largely consists of students from communities of color, have faced crowded classrooms, weaker academic outcomes, and chronic underinvestment.

Transportation mandates for private schools, combined with a high volume of costly special-education placements — many outside the district — have pushed spending well beyond what local taxes and the state’s school funding formula can support. A 2014 state investigation raised concerns about oversight of special-education contractors, questionable approvals for private placements, and potential conflicts of interest. At the time, then-Gov. Chris Christie declined to pursue a full state takeover, opting instead for limited intervention — a decision current officials say merely delayed an inevitable reckoning.

If the Murphy administration’s petition is successful, Lakewood would join a small group of districts placed under state control, including Camden in 2013, Newark and Paterson in the 1990s, and Jersey City in 1989. In each case, state oversight lasted more than a decade before full local control was restored.

For Lakewood, such a move could mean years — or longer — of state authority, with a monitor empowered to override the school board on budgets, contracts, staffing, and policy decisions.

In response to reports of a potential takeover, Senator Robert Singer, Assemblyman Avi Schnall, Mayor Ray Coles, and the Lakewood Township Committee issued a joint statement emphasizing that the district’s financial crisis stems from structural issues rather than mismanagement.

The officials noted that more than 50,000 children attend private schools in Lakewood, while roughly 5,000 students are enrolled in the public system — nearly 90 percent of whom are English Language Learners. They argued that New Jersey’s school funding formula was never designed to accommodate such demographics, resulting in an annual structural deficit exceeding $100 million.

They noted that the state has provided loans for years to close the gap, while more than a dozen state-appointed fiscal monitors have reviewed the district’s finances. “Without exception,” the officials said, “every one of those monitors reached the same conclusion: Lakewood’s challenge is not a management issue — it is a revenue issue.”

The statement said local leaders would welcome increased state involvement if it leads to a sustainable long-term solution, adding that their priority remains the students who depend on the Lakewood School District for stability, resources, and a properly funded education system.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)