The Lakewood School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Lakewood Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.^[3]

As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprising eight schools, had an enrollment of 5,433 students and 511.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1.^[1]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2017)

The school district provided busing to 18,000 students enrolled at 74 yeshivas as of 2011,^[4] which by 2016 had grown to a private school population of 25,000, more than quadruple the number of public school students.^[5]

In March 2017, Superintendent Laura Winters stated that due to a proposed $14.7 million decrease of the district budget, the district would be "unable to provide students with a thorough and efficient education required by the New Jersey State Constitution." The proposed cuts may cause 120 teachers to lose their positions.^[6]

An appeals court ruled in March 2023 that the district was shortchanged in state funding, a condition that was aggravated by the costs of providing private-school busing and special education services to all eligible students. Based on data from the 2020 United States census, a majority of the township's population of 135,000 were under the age of 18, of which nearly 6,000 attended the district's schools and 30,000 were attending private schools.^[7]

As of 2017, most of the students are black and Latino/Hispanic, while many of the Orthodox Jewish township residents send their children to private Jewish schools.^[8]

Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[9]) are:^{[10][11][12][13]}

Preschool

• Lakewood Early Childhood Center^[14] with 247 students in PreK
  • Sara Garfunkel, Supervisor of Early Childhood Center

Elementary schools

• Ella G. Clarke School^[15] with 375 students in grades 2–5
  • Ebony Rivera, principal
• Clifton Avenue School^[16] with 387 students in grades 2–5
  • Jessica Ring, principal
• Oak Street School^[17] with 633 students in grades 1–5
  • Joseph Schroepfer, principal
• Piner Elementary School^[18] with 415 students in grades PreK-1
  • Aleida Salguero, principal
• Spruce Street School^[19] with 384 students in grades PreK-1
  • Marcy Marshall, principal

Middle school

• Lakewood Middle School^[20] with 1,126 students in grades 6–8
  • Deb Mazzeo, principal

High school

• Lakewood High School^[21] with 1,458 students in grades 9–12
  • Richard Goldstein, principal

Core members of the district's administration are:^[22][23]

• Laura A. Winters, superintendent of schools
• Vacant, business administrator and board secretary

The district's board of education, composed of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2013) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.^[24][25][26]

• Lakewood School District
• School Performance Reports for the Lakewood School District, New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Lakewood School District, National Center for Education Statistics