Lakewood School District (New Jersey)

The Lakewood School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Lakewood Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.[3][4]

Lakewood School District
Address
1771 Madison Avenue Lakewood, NJ 08701 United States
Coordinates	40.097308°N 74.208792°W
District information
Grades	PreK-12
Superintendent	Laura A. Winters
Business administrator	Vacant
Schools	8
Students and staff
Enrollment	6,767 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Faculty	492.5 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	13.7:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	None
Website	District website
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $25,238 101 $18,891 33.6% 1 Budgetary Cost 12,517 12 14,783 −15.3% 2 Classroom Instruction 7,517 10 8,763 −14.2% 6 Support Services 2,520 68 2,392 5.4% 8 Administrative Cost 1,139 9 1,485 −23.3% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,098 4 1,783 −38.4% 13 Extracurricular Activities 233 48 268 −13.1% 16 Median Teacher Salary 50,728 1 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising eight schools, had an enrollment of 6,767 students and 492.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.7:1.[1]

History

The school district provided busing to 18,000 students enrolled at 74 yeshivas as of 2011,[5] which by 2016 had grown to a private school population of 25,000, more than quadruple the number of public school students.[6]

In March 2017, Superintendent Laura Winters stated that due to a proposed $14.7 million decrease of the district budget, the district would be "unable to provide students with a thorough and efficient education required by the New Jersey State Constitution." The proposed cuts may cause 120 teachers to lose their positions.[7]

Demographics

As of 2017, most of the students are black and Latino/Hispanic, while many of the Orthodox Jewish town residents send their children to private Jewish schools.[8]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[9]) are:[10]

Preschool

• Lakewood Early Childhood Center[11] with 206 students in PreK
  • Heni Mozes, Supervisor of Early Childhood Center

Elementary schools

• Ella G. Clarke School[12] with 606 students in grades 2-5
  • Debra Meabe, Principal

• Clifton Avenue School[13] with 365 students in grades 2-5
  • Debra Long, Principal

• Oak Street School[14] with 794 students in grades 1-5
  • Joseph Schroepfer, Principal

• Piner Elementary School[15] with 509 students in grades PreK-1
  • Marcy Marshall, Principal
• Spruce Street School[16] with 479 students in grades PreK-1
  • Aleida Salguero, Principal

Middle school

• Lakewood Middle School[17] with 1,334 students in grades 6-8
  • Richard Goldstein, Principal

High school

• Lakewood High School[18] with 1,243 students in grades 9-12
  • Ebony Rivera, Principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[19][20]

• Laura A. Winters, Superintendent of Schools
• Vacant, Business Administrator / Board Secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education, with nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2013) as part of the November general election.[21][22][23]

References

1. District information for Lakewood Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Lakewood Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Lakewood School District. Accessed May 5, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Lakewood School District. Composition: The Lakewood School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Lakewood."
4. Public Schools Directory 2019-2020; Living & Learning in Ocean County, Ocean County, New Jersey. Accessed May 5, 2020.
5. Ahearn, James. "Opinion: In Central Jersey, a school imbroglio" Archived 2017-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Record (Bergen County), June 5, 2012. Accessed April 6, 2017. "The answer was eye-opening. Eighteen thousand kids. That is, to repeat, 18,000. They attended 74 yeshiva schools, served by 14 bus companies, on 400 routes, more than any other district in the state."
6. Rinde, Meir. "Is Lakewood on the Verge of a Meltdown?", NJ Spotlight, June 21, 2016. Accessed April 6, 2017. "State and local educational funding systems aren’t built to handle a town with 25,000 children in religious institutions and 6,000 in the public schools, says Rev. Glenn Wilson."
7. Guion, Payton. "Lakewood could fire 100-plus teachers amid $15M shortfall", Asbury Park Press, March 24, 2017. Accessed April 6, 2017.
8. Brodie, Leslie. "N.J. School District Strains Under Severe Budget Pressures; The school superintendent in Lakewood is warning that the proposed 2017-18 spending plan would decimate public schools", The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2017. Accessed April 6, 2017.
9. School Data for the Lakewood School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
10. New Jersey School Directory for the Lakewood School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
11. Lakewood Early Childhood Center, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
12. Ella G. Clarke School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
13. Clifton Avenue School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
14. Oak Street School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
15. Piner Elementary School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
16. Spruce Street School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
17. Lakewood Middle School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
18. Lakewood High School, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
19. District Administration, Lakewood Public School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.
20. New Jersey School Directory for Ocean County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
21. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
22. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Lakewood Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2018. Accessed May 5, 2020. "The Lakewood Township School District is a Type II School District located in the County of Ocean, State of New Jersey. As a Type II School District, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board is comprised of nine members elected to three-year terms. These terms are staggered so that three members’ terms expire each year."
23. Board of Education, Lakewood School District. Accessed May 5, 2020.

External links

• Lakewood School District
• Lakewood School District's 2015–16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Lakewood School District, National Center for Education Statistics