STATE DECISION: Based on repeated problems in audits Asbury Park schools get fiscal monitor Posted by the _Asbury Park Press_ (http://www.app.com/) on 09/26/07 BY _NANCY SHIELDS_ (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU _Post Comment _ (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070926&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=709260408&SectionCat=NEWS01&Template=p rintart#comments) ASBURY PARK — A state Department of Education financial monitor will soon be working in the city's school district, and will exercise veto power, if necessary, over the administration and school board to improve financial operations. Repeated fiscal problems over the years triggered the state's decision, announced Tuesday, which was made under the School District Fiscal Accountability Act, known as the Willingboro Act. Asbury Park will be joining Willingboro, Camden, Paterson, Irvington and Pleasantville in having such oversight. The monitor arrangements have replaced a previous state initiative of taking over the running of poorly performing districts. Under the new system, the local school board remains intact but its financial decisions need the monitor's approval. "Once the monitor is in, the state has its presence in the district, the monitor has a presence and looks at all of the things happening there," Deputy Education Commissioner Willa Spicer said. "It is the conclusion that the state needs a presence in that district." The district has had a state intervention team working with school administrators, but that team did not have the authority of a fiscal monitor. The district is working to address areas that need to be improved under a new monitoring method called the Quality Single Accountability Continuum, or QSAC. But officials said the move to have direct control for some period of time over the district's finances is not connected to QSAC. Katherine Attwood, the state assistant commissioner for finance, cited repeated or serious problems found in the district's audits. Asbury Park's educational system has been in severe distress for at least a decade. During the past year, the school district struggled with acting superintendents coming and going while current Schools Superintendent Antonio Lewis remains suspended with pay for more than a year. The infighting in the district continues over jobs — from administrators on all levels to coaching jobs. Board member pleased "It's about time," Board of Education member Garrett Giberson said of the state monitor coming in. "It's absolutely great and something that's long overdue. I think the monitor will be able to lead board members in the right direction. "Let's face the facts," Giberson said. "Our administration is in chaos, and it all centers around the investigation of the current superintendent. . . . We are literally being held hostage." Before the board suspended Lewis right just prior to classes beginning last September, he had started to face opposition from the still relatively new business administrator, Aiman Mahmoud, who was prepared to leave if Lewis stayed. "Mahmoud seems to know what he's doing," Giberson said. "He's our money man, a pretty savvy guy when it comes to finances in the district. What messes he's cleaning up from the past is another story. We all know that messes can linger. It takes a while to straighten out." Board kept "in dark" Robert DiSanto, board president, said he was concerned that the decision to send in a monitor had not been discussed with the board. "We were completely in the dark regarding this," DiSanto said. "Nobody's communicated this to us at all. . . . We are making changes best we can to make it best for our district." Keisha Frazier, a 32-year-old parent with five children in the school system, said she welcomes the state's help. "A monitor would make sure everything's going smoothly and the kids are being taught what they're supposed to be taught," she said.
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