Members of the Improve Learning Now! team, elected in November, are pictured after the Asbury Park Board of Education reorganization meeting Jan. 2, at which they were sworn into office. They are, from left, incumbent Jessie Ricks, former board member Dominic Latorraca and newly elected member Stephanie Ackerman.
By PATRICIA MCDANIEL
Facing a projected $13 million budget shortfall, the Asbury Park Board of Education at its Jan. 2 reorganization meeting seated three members – both new and familiar – elected in November.
The new board now reflects a slimmer five to four majority that is made up mostly of members previously elected linked by a shared vision for the district.
But the entire board will now have to deal with the challenge of the shortfall in the next budget cycle – a shortfall paired with other worries, including static state funding and federal funding under possible threat by the Trump administration, officials said.
In fact, board officials said at the meeting that they and other districts in the state have been informed by the state Department of Education to prepare for as much as a 75 percent decrease in federal funding – monies used to support required special needs education, among other services, they said.
But for right now, the three members of the Improve Learning Now! team – incumbent Jessie Ricks, former board member Dominic Latorraca (who served two terms from 2016-2022) and newly elected member Stephanie Ackerman – all took the oaths of office at the beginning of the reorganization meeting.
Once seated, the board members set about other business, the first of which was electing a president and vice president for the year.
And that first vote demonstrated the board split among the newly elected members, along with sitting member Barbara Lesinski, and the other five members of the board.
In a five to four vote, the nomination of Lesinski as president by Ricks failed, with “no” votes cast by members Tracy Rogers, Wendi Glassman, Giuseppe Grillo, Michael Penna and Kristen Clarke. Apart from her own vote, Lesinski had the votes of Ricks, Latorraca and Ackerman.
In the next nomination, Rogers (nominated by Grillo) was voted in as board president, with the added support of Glassman, Penna and Clark. Glassman was voted in as vice president in the same five to four lineup.
Other business followed, including the approval of the meeting calendar for 2025, and that seemingly routine issue raised another split: The board minority sought to schedule a public meeting before the proposed Jan. 23 regular meeting to discuss the budget shortfall. The projection was presented by the district’s state monitor at the last meeting Dec. 19.
Rising costs for insurance and transportation and decreased revenues from enrollment lost to charter schools have contributed to the projected shortfall – as well as reduced state aid.
That leaves the district grappling with options – such as selling certain school properties – to raise revenue.
The board minority made a motion to have a special meeting on the shortfall prior to the regular Jan. 23 meeting: “Time is of the essence,” said Latorraca in making the motion.
The budget issue is “cumbersome,” he added and there is a lot of interest about it on social media. So a discussion, “if it started earlier rather than later is a good idea,” he said.
But new board President Rogers noted that the board committees remain to be OK’d (planned for Jan. 23) and that more facts need to be gathered before a special public meeting is called.
“The next move is to start gathering information,” he said, adding “So right now let’s not record judgment on anything until we have the facts.”
Rogers confirmed on Monday that the board will hear more from state monitor David Shafter about the budget issues during its executive session after the regular Jan. 23 meeting. This will bring all board members up to date on the matter.
Then, Rogers said a public town meeting is planned on the upcoming 2025-2026 budget so the public can be fully involved early in the process. A specific date has not yet been set, but will be soon, he said.
He added that he is an advocate for transparency and he is determined, as board president, to have a budget process that is more open – allowing for input from residents and the board – than for any budget in the past.
“This is all about transparency,” Rogers said.
Most speakers during the public session congratulated the new board and expressed a desire to see cooperation among the members for the sake of the students in the district.
