As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprising eight schools, had an enrollment of 5,433 students and 511.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1.[1]
History
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The school district provided busing to 18,000 students enrolled at 74 yeshivas as of 2011,[4] which by 2016 had grown to a private school population of 25,000, more than quadruple the number of public school students.[5]
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.[6]
An appeals court ruled in March 2023 that the district was shortchanged in state funding, a condition that was aggravated by the costs of providing private-school busing and special education services to all eligible students. Based on data from the 2020 United States census, a majority of the township's population of 135,000 were under the age of 18, of which nearly 6,000 attended the district's schools and 30,000 were attending private schools.[7]
Demographics
As of 2017, most of the students are black and Latino/Hispanic, while many of the Orthodox Jewish township residents send their children to private Jewish schools.[8]
Core members of the district's administration are:[22][23]
Laura A. Winters, superintendent of schools
Vacant, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education
The district's board of education, composed of 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. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[24][25][26]
^Lakewood Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Lakewood School District. Accessed August 22, 2023. "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."
^Ahearn, James. "Opinion: In Central Jersey, a school imbroglio"Archived 2017-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Record, 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."
^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."
^Strupp, Joe. "Lakewood Schools deserve more state funding for busing students, appeals court rules", Asbury Park Press, March 6. 2023. Accessed August 22, 2023. "Their complaint challenged the state’s funding of the 6,000-student district, claiming the district’s legal obligation to provide transportation and other services to more than 30,000 nonpublic school students required more state aid.... Its population surged by 46%, from 92,843 to 135,158, in the last decade, according to the U.S. Census, and more than 50 percent of the population is now under the age of 18."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Lakewood Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2022. Accessed August 22, 2023. "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."