By Dawn Fantasia
New Jersey’s State Auditor has released a new audit of Newark Public Schools, and “certain matters” have been referred to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice.
The audit and executive summary are linked at the bottom of this piece.
Nearly FOUR YEARS were examined: July 2022 through May 2026. The findings reveal glaring failures in spending, oversight, and employee screening, along with MILLIONS in excess state aid and missed savings.
I spent the past year making noise about this and being chastised by the other side for supposedly being out of line. Well, this “I told you so” doesn’t feel so good because kids, families, and taxpayers got hammered while, apparently, the board was dozing, elected officials deflected or buried their heads in the sand, and the superintendent ran the district like a drunk college kid on spring break with his parents’ credit card.
WHAT’S IN THE AUDIT:
▪️ Approximately $566,000 from the school district’s GENERAL FUND for an employee gym. Average daily use? SEVEN employees — with a full-time trainer. Newark claimed the gym services were paid for with “employee wellness funds.” The auditors said Newark’s own documents showed the costs were paid from the GENERAL FUND. No competitive bidding or board approval.
▪️ $2.5 MILLION upfront for a museum. A year past its deadline, with no documentation regarding construction progress, expenses, or an updated timeline. Required Department of Education approval? No. Competitive bidding? Nope. The agreement totaled $4.5 million, with potential additional costs. A $750,000 preservation grant? Missed because Newark didn’t own the property or hold a long-term lease.
▪️ $6.65 MILLION in excess state aid. Newark overstated enrollment by 128 students in two annual submissions. Taxpayers across the state paid for an inflated student count.
▪️ An estimated $18.7 MILLION in missed health insurance savings over TWO years. Documentation showing that the required 2025 review of insurance options was completed? Nope.
▪️ Approximately $1.3 MILLION in avoidable preschool payments. Enrollment fell below contractual thresholds, yet Newark stopped reducing payments. Providers got paid for seats they weren’t filling.
▪️ Approximately $4.7 MILLION in legal spending above the statewide per-student average over three years. Required cost-control procedures, or evidence they wouldn’t reduce costs? Nope.
▪️ Approximately $1.14 MILLION spent on catering over a two-year period. In the FY 2024 transactions tested, approximately $184,000 lacked adequate documentation, and approximately $49,000 exceeded meal-pricing limits, with possible overlap. SIXTEEN of 19 catered board meetings exceeded the $10-per-person limit.
▪️ $711,943 for Senior Day trips over three years. Carnival booths. DJs. Karaoke. Documentation of educational components of any kind whatsoever? Not provided. School General Fund money paid the bill.
▪️ $57,065 for a Central Office Staff “Fun Day.” The board authorized $44,000. Newark got around that by using two purchase orders. Auditors said that circumvented bidding requirements. The Department of Education directed repayment of $33,649.07 in disallowed state aid from the first payment. Auditors said another $13,251 from the second payment should also be reimbursed.
▪️ $150,619 in required employee health contributions went uncollected. Another $41,602 was paid in ineligible medical and prescription claims during unpaid leave. Attempts to recover those outstanding contributions? None.
And then there’s this:
▪️ TEN employees had never completed required criminal background checks. Another 199 hadn’t properly updated their clearances for Newark. That left a gap in notifications if any of those 199 employees committed a disqualifying offense.
Live outside of Newark? State funding paid 88% of the district’s General Fund revenues during the three fiscal years examined.
YOUR tax dollars were in that pot.
Newark’s kids and families deserved better.
EVERY TAXPAYER funding this debacle deserved better.
📄 FULL AUDIT: pub.njleg.gov/publications/a
📄 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: pub.njleg.gov/publications/a
