Judges set deadline for state to provide Lakewood with more school aid
TRENTON – The Department of Education must create a plan for improved funding of the debt-heavy Lakewood School District by April 1, an appeals court ruled this week, the latest action in a nearly decade-long legal battle over aid to the troubled schools.
The three-judge appeals court issued the order on Nov. 27, which demands that Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan provide a plan to improve funding in the next four months.
“I think it’s a huge deal,” said Paul Tractenberg, co-counsel in a lawsuit first filed in 2014 against the state that demanded more school aid. “The commissioner’s plan was to drag this out for a year and a half.”
More: Lakewood Schools borrow more money from New Jersey than any other district
The order comes nine months after the same three-judge panel first directed Allen-McMillan to improve state aid to Lakewood, which is facing $173 million in state loan debt and other fiscal issues.
But that directive had not included a deadline.
“Now they have four months so they have to get it done,” said Arthur Lang, a Lakewood High School teacher and co-counsel on the lawsuit. “That is important. They can’t slow down anymore.”
But Tractenberg fears that the pending departure of Allen-McMillan, who announced this week she plans to step down in January, may be used as an excuse to delay things.
“The state may use that fact to say they need more time,” he said. “We will resist that to maximum extent.”
The Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
Allen-McMillan said in August that the state had launched its review but said it would take at least six months and perhaps longer.
More: NJ Auditor: Lakewood schools deserve special 'state aid' to address finances
She had announced that former Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington Markus, who served in that top post in 2017 and 2018, would be among those leading the review.
The order stems from the 9-year-old Alcantara lawsuit filed by Lang and Tractenberg on behalf of a group of parents that claims Lakewood is underfunded. That suit led to the initial appeals court ruling in March that found Lakewood public schools do not receive adequate state funding to meet their needs.
The appeals court declared that the district is “severely strained” by its obligation to provide transportation and special education to thousands of non-public school students.
More recently, an internal review by State Auditor David Kaschak determined that the Lakewood School District suffered from “severe fiscal distress” and would benefit from additional aid. He also suggested the state create a new funding category for the district.
The Alcantara case challenges the state’s funding of the 6,000-student district, claiming the district’s legal obligation to provide transportation and other services to more than 40,000 nonpublic school students required more state aid.
More: Lakewood schools borrowed millions from New Jersey and still can't pay its bills
The commissioner first responded to the court order on May 12 with a letter to the plaintiffs’ attorneys saying that a review would be done but offered no timeline.
Two years ago, an administrative law judge ruled in the case that Lakewood public school students were not receiving a “thorough and efficient” education.
In a nonbinding decision, Judge Susan Scarola recommended in that 2021 ruling that Allen-McMillan conduct a needs assessment of the school district's ability to meet its obligations and make "appropriate recommendations to the district."
The decision did not require the commissioner to make any changes, but gave her support for pursuing a study and altering Lakewood’s state aid if needed.
In July 2021, the commissioner acknowledged a review of the district’s educational programs and funding situation had been conducted, but she said it did not provide any evidence that changes were needed in funding or that students were not receiving the proper education as required by law.
More: State loans $50 million to Lakewood schools, adding to district's chart-topping debt
Six months later, Tractenberg and Lang appealed Allen-McMillan’s decision not to seek changes in the funding formula.
The sticking point for Lang and other funding advocates has been how Lakewood’s state funding is assessed given its unusual situation as a public school district that serves tens of thousands of nonpublic students who live in the community.
The district has had annual budget deficits in recent years that have forced administrators to take out tens of millions of dollars in state loans, including a recent $50 million loan for the current 2023-2024 school year.
The district will now owe $173 million in state loans dating to the 2014-15 school year when $4.5 million was borrowed.
Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Judges put state on deadline to fix Lakewood's school funding formula
