'We don't need to be patient anymore': Asbury Park schools chief shows off improvements

ASBURY PARK - Schools Superintendent RaShawn M. Adams had to "clean up a lot" in his first two years as head of the district, and he's done waiting.

"We can no longer just wait for osmosis for things to just change. We have to be intentional. We have put in place a lot of processes and procedures and systems. The accountability expectation is very clear going into (my) third year," Adams said. "For me it is about lowering the temperature on who is to blame and looking at who is not benefiting. I am always going to be very focused on being student centered."

Adams, who earned a doctorate of education in educational leadership, has worked in the district since 2015, but took the helm in mid-2021. He’s the fifth person to hold the position in the last decade and with his "student-centered, process-driven and outcome-focused" approach, he says he has promoted "a system of accountability" after telling the district "I don't cut deals."

"We don't need to be patient anymore about poor testing; we don't need to be patient anymore about accountability. We don't need to be patient anymore and collaborate on folks not doing what they are paid to do, we don't need to compromise or find a compromising circumstance or situation," Adams said.

"I am not doing a quid pro quo for this or that, I never operated in that realm, nor will I. For me, I need to make sure that in my time (as superintendent) it can be said that the academic expectations drastically changed, and it was mirrored by the academic output on state assessment. That to me, right now, is my only focus," Adams said.

While showing off over $14 million in physical improvements made throughout the district, Adams said he was going to be "explicitly intentional" heading into the new school year.

Last school year, the state of New Jersey cut the district's state aid by $8.6 million. The teachers' union in the district filed over 50 complaints against Adams, all while nearly 40% of the student body missed class on a regular basis.

"Julian Bond (the Civil Rights activist) once said the greatest crime is a kid going through a K-to-12 education system and only getting three years of education. … When you look at last year's NJGPA results from the prior year, we drastically began to improve. That is an indication of righting the process and procedures," Adams said.

The New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment is a test for 11th graders designed to measure if they are graduation ready in language arts and math. Only 5% of the students in the district reached the passing achievement in 2021-2022, compared with 29% in 2022-2023.

In May, citing a "lack of collaboration" and "a hostile work environment," a majority of the Asbury Park Education Association, which represents nearly 300 teachers and support staff, approved a vote of no confidence in the superintendent.

John P. Napolitani, president of the education association, previously told the Asbury Park Press that "everybody is in fear of retaliation here. They are afraid to say anything."

Other reasons the association cited for the vote included a "lack of adherence to procedures and laws" and the "elimination of critical positions that impact students directly" as well as fears of retaliation.

Adams remains unapologetic about his methods.

"We are not going to trump up things because it fits a particular narrative. We have enough of that. I don't have time, with all of the issues going on, to still be holding on to all that stuff. We been there, done that, remedied it. Now it is time to move on," Adams said.

'I saw some tremendous growth'

Looking forward to the 2023-2024 school year, "I want to be intentional about how we are looking at improving instruction and what our instruction looks like," Adams said.

Last year's goal was improving writing across the board.

"I saw some tremendous growth in that area from our early childhood grades, looking at letter formation to the actual writing process and students producing quality written pieces. That shows when you are focused on something and you are intentional about it, you begin to see the results," Adams said.

This year, the focus on writing will continue but "we are also going to look at (mathematics)," he said.

He clarified that "last year I saw staff busting their butts instructionally, harder than I have seen in other years."

"That same effort, now coming back into this school year, is you've had your summer respite time to kick in. Let's get ready to gear up, got the school year coming. This is what focus points are going to be. Let's go and achieve something great," Adams said.

'Make the hard decision'

He added that the elementary schools, as well as the middle school are improving the "climate and culture."

"Our high school, this time last year we ran into the whole eligibility issue with the football team. None of that is a problem now," Adams said, referring to when Asbury Park High School lost by forfeit in its opening varsity football game due to not having enough eligible players. "If I have to make the hard decision and deal with it in the beginning, I'd rather do that than ignore it and let it fester and deal with it on the back end because now it is ten times worse."

There are also physical improvements happening throughout the district, using federal ESSER funds and totaling $14,434,179.

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds are meant "to empower states, districts, and other organizations to meet the diverse needs of every student by providing leadership, technical assistance, and financial support," according to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Bradley and Thurgood Marshall Elementary Schools are receiving upgrades to their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.

Improvements at Martin Luther King Jr Middle School include the chiller, upgrades to the elevator, media center and multi-purpose room, replacing boiler room pumps, roof top units in the cafeteria, gym, and media center.

Improvements at Asbury Park High School include science room modernization, auditorium A/V and seating, media center renovations, auxiliary gym heating and cooling, as well as main gym and lockeroom heating and cooling at the high school.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park schools superintendent demands improvements this year