Acting Commissioner Lucille Davy has stepped into a dispute between the Asbury Park school board and Superintendent Dr. Antonio Lewis by rejecting the school board’s proposed $600,000 buy-out of Superintendent Lewis’ employment contract. The board negotiated the buy-out as part of effort to replace the superintendent, bring in new leadership, and improve the district’s academic and administrative performance.

Following Acting Commissioner Davy’s action, the school board suspended Dr. Lewis without any contract buy-out, and hired former district curriculum supervisor Kathy McDavitt as interim superintendent.

In rejecting the proposed buy-out, the Acting Commissioner cited the school board’s inability to provide documentation to support the buy-out payments, despite repeated requests from the NJ Department of Education.

In taking this unprecedented action, the Acting Commissioner relied upon the accountability directives of the NJ Supreme Court in the landmark Abbott v. Burke education equity rulings. Those directives require the Commissioner of Education to take "any action" to make certain that all Abbott funding is used "effectively and efficiently" to enable urban school children to achieve state academic standards.

Education Law Center, which represents school children in Asbury Park and the other urban "Abbott" districts, has repeatedly called on the State to exercise this authority under Abbott when necessary to ensure accountability for Abbott funding by local district officials.

Acting Commissioner Davy concluded that the expenditure of Abbott funds to buy out Dr. Lewis’ contract would not be effective and efficient.

The Department of Education has also sent an intervention team to the district at its request to aid in school restructuring efforts. In addition, Acting Commissioner Davy will attend the school board meeting on September 21 to discuss how to jump start improvements in the district’s performance.

Prepared: September 25, 2006

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