Toms River Schools Defy State Order To Shut Down Until Board OKs 2025-26 Budget

The Toms River school board refuses to approve a 12.9 percent tax increase and says it will file for bankruptcy protection instead.

Karen Wall, Patch News staff
Patch - Toms River NJ

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional Board of Education is defying an order from the New Jersey Department of Education to shut down after the school board rejected the state's demand that it approve a budget for the 2025-26 school year.

The state order came in a letter to Superintendent Michael Citta and board President Ashley Lamb dated June 30, hours before a special meeting Monday night, that demanded the board approve a budget immediately or "it is prohibited from expending any funds or operating any educational programs past today's date until a budget for FY26 is approved."

"Accordingly, the Board and Administration must initiate closure procedures and activities to ensure no funds are expended until a budget for FY26 is approved," according to the letter signed by David Corso, the assistant education commissioner and head of the department's Division of Financial Services.

Citta on Tuesday said the district is not halting its operations. "Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) are the extended school year programs," Citta said. "We are not shutting down." Those programs are critical pieces of individualized education plans for special education students and are federally funded as well as receiving state funding.

https://patch.com/new-jersey/tomsriver/toms-river-schools-defy-state-order-shut-down-until-board-oks-2025-26-budget