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Asbury Park City School District board meeting, Sep 24, 2026

3 h 27 min

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 1:31:35

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 3 h 27 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Asbury Park principals present chronic absenteeism plans to school board 1:31:35

  • Building principals presented chronic absenteeism reports as part of a corrective action plan, and the administration said each school will set a measurable attendance goal over the coming month. 1:31:35
  • The high school principal gave an overview of the school's 100-year celebration, which includes a parade on Saturday, October 24th. 2:00:46
  • Speakers at public comment raised class sizes, school supplies, drop-off, aftercare and the 504 process. 2:21:54

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Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and executive session 16:36
    • The meeting opened with a reading of the meeting notice and a roll call. 16:36
    • A resolution was read to hold a closed executive session on collective bargaining, real property, litigation or contract matters, attorney-client matters and personnel matters. 18:43
    • The board later moved to reopen the public session, followed by a roll call. 1:30:22
  2. Chronic absenteeism reports 1:31:29
    • The high school principal said 48% of surveyed families believe missing school affects learning and 33% said family responsibilities affect attendance. 1:32:39
    • The MLK Middle School principal said the school's chronic absenteeism rate was 34% when the principal took over, fell to 18% last year, and the goal this year is a 25% reduction. 1:36:32
    • One board member asked for more regular data on chronic absenteeism during the year, and a staff member said daily attendance and chronic absenteeism figures are calculated differently. 1:57:58
  3. High school centennial celebration 2:00:46
    • The high school principal said the celebration will begin with a parade at 11:00 AM on Saturday, October 24th, with a rain date of Sunday, October 25th. 2:01:32
    • The principal said students have filmed 400 to 500 hours of footage for a 30-minute to 35-minute documentary on the high school. 2:06:04
    • A speaker on the dais said the board has been offered a float for the parade. 2:10:57
  4. Public comment 2:12:15
    • A speaker at public comment raised attendance resources and suggested involving community stakeholders to help with transportation for families. 2:14:58
    • A speaker at public comment raised the 504 process, drop-off procedures, aftercare being postponed until September 28th, and a teacher having no budget for school supplies. 2:21:54
    • Speakers at public comment said a second grade class started the year with 28 students and now has 24, and raised class size limits. 2:25:40
  5. Board follow-up on school supplies 2:28:42
    • A speaker asked the administration for a clear answer on school supplies and said roughly 3,000 backpacks were distributed in the district last year for about 1,900 kids. 2:28:42
    • A speaker said a July billing review showed a few bills for supplies but not for every teacher. 2:29:50
  6. Superintendent's report 2:31:18
    • The staff member delivering the report said a new superintendent will begin tomorrow and the school year opened successfully. 2:31:18
    • The staff member said the district is assigning paraprofessionals to kindergarten classrooms to comply with administrative code requirements. 2:32:55
    • The staff member said each school will establish a measurable attendance goal to be presented to the board. 2:34:26
  7. State monitor's report 2:36:42
    • The state monitor said there is a resolution on the agenda for an agreement with MOESC for staffing personnel and that auditors have arrived in the district. 2:36:53
    • The state monitor said the district is handling a transition of food service site managers from Sodexo and clearing out the maintenance building in preparation for sale. 2:36:53
    • The state monitor said a quarterly meeting with the board will be scheduled in October. 2:39:22
  8. Approval of minutes 2:39:48
    • One board member first said yes for the 27th, and a staff member said they had to abstain because of being seated at that meeting. 2:43:10
  9. Personnel items and leaves of absence 2:44:21
    • One board member said the ESL training item is something the district has to do and said abstaining on item 3, leaves of absence, until more information is provided. 2:44:48
    • A staff member said SIA funding is very specific in how it can be spent and the ESL item is Title III money. 2:46:54
  10. District improvement plan and personnel consents 2:50:32
    • The presiding officer described three governance indicators requiring a response to the Department of Education: superintendent evaluation, board financial disclosures and library media services. 2:51:08
    • The presiding officer asked which schools will take part in two family engagement nights, and a staff member said an answer would follow. 2:51:08
  11. Business items and bills 2:59:12
    • Barbara Lesinski asked whether facilities use waivers had been reviewed. 2:59:33
    • A speaker said the bills and claims were reviewed online and no issues were found. 3:00:02
  12. Student evaluation service contracts 3:02:31
    • Jean Grossman asked whether the evaluation services are recurring and what the success metrics are, noting evaluations cost between $2,000 and $2,500 each. 3:02:54
    • A staff member said the services likely relate to required triennial evaluations that district staff may not be able to conduct. 3:03:27
    • One board member said the intent was not to vote no but to understand how the evaluations help students. 3:05:08
  13. Donations and pupil placement 3:08:27
    • A board member asked that donations for backpacks and school supplies be placed on the calendar earlier, such as July or August. 3:09:02
  14. Facilities use and program metrics 3:11:14
    • Barbara Lesinski asked whether anyone reviewed the facilities use requests before they were placed on the agenda, and another speaker raised whether to consider adding security during building use. 3:12:36
    • A speaker asked for data on student participation and measures of success for items 14 through 17, and a staff member said the high-impact tutoring is from a high-impact tutoring grant. 3:14:32
    • A speaker suggested an ad hoc committee for facilities use analysis made up of the chairs of policy, athletics, buildings and grounds, and finance. 3:20:03
  15. Board goal setting and adjournment 3:21:06
    • A board member said the board has not set goals in a couple years, which was a CUSEC finding, and proposed dates for a goal-setting meeting. 3:21:43
    • A speaker said an email survey would be sent to pick the night when the most people could attend. 3:25:31
    • A motion to adjourn was made. 3:26:03

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “September 24, 2026 Board of Education Meeting Recording”