Lakewood School District (New Jersey)

The Lakewood School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Lakewood Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

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.

History
The school district provided busing to 18,000 students enrolled at 74 yeshivas as of 2011, which by 2016 had grown to a private school population of 25,000, more than quadruple the number of public school students.

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.

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.

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.

Schools
Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are:
 * Preschool
 * Lakewood Early Childhood Center with 247 students in PreK
 * Sara Garfunkel, Supervisor of Early Childhood Center
 * Elementary schools
 * Ella G. Clarke School with 375 students in grades 2-5
 * Ebony Rivera, principal
 * Clifton Avenue School with 387 students in grades 2-5
 * Jessica Ring, principal
 * Oak Street School with 633 students in grades 1-5
 * Joseph Schroepfer, principal
 * Piner Elementary School with 415 students in grades PreK-1
 * Aleida Salguero, principal
 * Spruce Street School with 384 students in grades PreK-1
 * Marcy Marshall, principal
 * Middle school
 * Lakewood Middle School with 1,126 students in grades 6-8
 * Deb Mazzeo, principal
 * High school
 * Lakewood High School with 1,458 students in grades 9-12
 * Richard Goldstein, principal

Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:
 * 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.