New state monitor appointed to school district
Current monitor will be transferred to Pleasantville
A new state monitor has been assigned to the Asbury Park School District.
Outgoing state monitor Lester Richens [shown above, at right] will transfer to the Pleasantville School District. He will be replaced by Carole Morris [left].
Richens has served the district since May 2011.
Morris served as superintendent of schools in Manasquan for 25 years. Five years ago, she was appointed the Monmouth County Executive Superintendent of Schools where she served for three years. She also spent short tenures in Newark and Matawan as the regional superintendent.
Morris will oversee the school board’s selection of a new superintendent, which a majority of board members voted to reopen on Wednesday.
Morris looks forward to working with the district. “I think it’s going to be very challenging,” she said.
A state monitor has been present in the district since 2007, according to Glenn Forney, assistant director of finance for the state office of budget review and state monitors in the Department of Education. Morris will be paid $93 an hour for her services for her one-year appointment, which can be extended for another year, said Forney.
State monitors are appointed “to provide direct oversight of a board of education’s business operations and personnel matters,” according to the state statutes governing the monitors.
Responsibilities of the monitor include oversight of school expenditures, facilities, staff appointments and terminations. They also have the ability to override the decisions of school administrators and the board of education on certain matters.
“The goal is to get them standing on their feet,” Forney said. “We’re definitely seeing progress. The business office is doing a fine job of making progress.”
At the Wednesday school board meeting, Richens thanked the board members for their work with him and wished them good luck in the future.
“I’ve enjoyed the last two years working with the board in Asbury Park,” he said. “You have a lot of challenges ahead of yourselves right now and a lot of decisions to make.”
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