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The Asbury Park School District’s Board of Education incumbents will be running unopposed in the Nov 6 election, a first in many years.

Business Administrator/Board Secretary Geoffrey Hastings confirmed that current Board President Angela Ahbez Anderson, Vice President Sheila Etienne and Kenneth Saunders Jr were the only petitions received by the July 30 deadline.

Ahbez-Anderson is a close to 25-year long resident who worked as a journalist and news anchor. She founded several nonprofit programs dedicated to the empowerment of women and girls, including the Rebuild Me life skills program that helped women work toward self-sufficiency. She served on the Board of Education from 2011 to 2014, and as board president in 2013. She was reelected in 2015.

Etienne, a lifelong resident who graduated from the school district, was first appointed in 2015. She worked for 10 years as a probation officer before obtaining a criminal justice master’s degree. Her entrepreneurial work as a parent advocate brought her in closer connection with the school district, she has said.

Saunders is also a lifelong resident and school district graduate. He works as an operating room nurse manager. He was first appointed in 2013 and is a former Board Vice President.  

The uncontested race is a sign of the times for a once beleaguered board that just two to five years ago, and beyond, included members filing ethic charges against one another, challenging election results, and stalling votes by walking out or simply not showing up to meetings.

In State Monitor Carole Morris’ end of school year report, she commended the board for its attendance/no lack of quorums, active and regularly held committee meetings, sustaining audit reports, its introduction of social and emotional assistance programs, recently installed pre-kindergarten/after school programs, having a stable administrative leadership, and the successful superintendent transition that occured after former Superintendent Lamont Repollet was named State Education Commissioner.

Her report did list the following areas of concern:

Ethics concerns-cases pending and costs  

Micromanagement issues  

Test scores-show gain, but remain below acceptable numbers  

Cost per pupil-one of highest in the state. Reduced, but impacted by charter schools  

Excessive Efficiency Standards in several areas  

Budget concerns as per charter school impact  

Board of Education atmosphere of cooperation and reasonable discussion and solutions remains a problem  

High cost of Special Education

The Asbury Park School District has operated under the fiscal oversight of a state monitor since 2011. Morris was appointed to the role, previously held by Lester Richens, in 2013.   

School officials have said the new funding formula and cuts in aid has left them with a $2.1 million hit to the operating budget.

The $55 million state aid allotment represents 80 percent of the district’s $68 million operating budget. Their $8 million payment to support the charter schools equates to 12.3 percent of the operating budget, with an additional $4.6 million going toward out of district placements.

The district’s per pupil costs have gone from $30,977 in 2014-15 school year to $28,060 for the 2018-19 school year, a 9.4 percent decrease.

The district has put forth a $68,067,718 operating fund budget, a .6 percent increase [or $409,289 increase] over last year’s $67,658,429 spending plan. The spending plan does not include the $13 million in grants used to support programming.

The proposed $7,399,447 tax levy, a 2 percent [or $145,087] increase translates to a .54 tax rate. This means the average homeowner with an assessed $310,422 property value is facing a $1,674 annual tax bill.

For more on the spending plan, click here. 

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