The state Department of Education moved this week to place the Lakewood Township School District under state control, arguing that years of unresolved financial and administrative problems have left the district unable to meet its obligations to students.
On Wednesday, attorneys for the Murphy administration filed an order to show cause, a legal filing that asks the State Board of Education to authorize a takeover of the Ocean County district. The action comes as Gov. Phil Murphy’s term winds down, putting the decision before the next administration if it advances.
Under the proposal, local governance would be suspended. The state would install its own superintendent and board, taking direct control over budgeting, staffing decisions, and academic oversight.
In its filing, the state points to a long record of court rulings, audits, and oversight efforts that it says have failed to bring Lakewood’s operations into compliance. Despite repeated interventions, officials argue the district has remained financially unstable and administratively ineffective, prompting the state to seek direct authority rather than continued supervision.
“For more than a decade, the New Jersey Department of Education has been working with the Lakewood Township School District to address ongoing fiscal and operational concerns that impact students, staff, parents, and the entire Lakewood community,” Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said in a statement announcing the action.
The potential takeover would place Lakewood among a small group of districts seized by the state. New Jersey previously assumed control of school systems in Newark, Paterson, and Camden. The most recent takeover, in Camden, began more than a decade ago and remains in effect.
Lakewood would be the first non-urban district in the state to come under full state control if the board approves the measure.
The district’s financial struggles have been well documented. A September court ruling attributed Lakewood’s budget instability to poor fiscal management, a failure to raise local taxes, and mounting costs tied to transportation and special education services.
Lakewood’s situation is unique within the state. While fewer than 5,000 students attend the township’s public schools, more than 50,000 school-aged children living in the community are enrolled in private religious schools, most of them Orthodox Jewish institutions.
Under state and federal law, the public school district is responsible for providing transportation and special education services to eligible nonpublic students. Court records show that those obligations account for more than half of Lakewood’s annual education budget. In addition, Lakewood is one of the most populated towns in New Jersey.
State aid to the district, however, is calculated primarily based on public school enrollment. That imbalance has left Lakewood responsible for costs that far exceed what its funding formula supports, placing sustained pressure on its finances.
Local officials have long argued that the district’s structure makes it unlike any other in New Jersey. State officials counter that the funding challenges do not excuse what they describe as years of inadequate oversight and planning.
Lakewood school leaders and township officials will have the opportunity to respond to the order to show cause before the matter is taken up by the State Board of Education. No timeline has been announced for a final decision.
If the board moves forward, the takeover would mark a significant shift in governance for a district that has been locked in legal and political disputes with the state for more than a decade.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.