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Contact: William Reyes
Public Information Officer
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AUDITORS TO REVIEW ELIZABETH BOARD OF
EDUCATION ACTIVITY
Inefficient and ineffective services to be examined

ELIZABETH, NJ June 8, 2006--- The New Jersey Department of Education has hired the audit firm of Lerch Vinci & Higgins LLP to conduct an analysis of the practices, programs, and services conducted and administered by the Elizabeth Board of Education.

“In numerous correspondence sent to the Governor, I have requested that an audit be conducted into the reckless administrative and financial practices of the Board of Education,” said Mayor Chris Bollwage, “the academic success of the children in the City of Elizabeth continues to be compromised by the gross mismanagement of taxpayer/Abbott funding by the Elizabeth Board of Education.”

On May 18, 2006, the Elizabeth Board of Education was instructed by the New Jersey Department of Education’s Division of Abbott Implementation to “comply with…and give your full cooperation to the Department staff and the above audit firm to ensure full access to and a thorough review of your school district records.”

Misstating factual information and mismanagement by the Elizabeth Board of Education has resulted in the inflation of student enrollment figures, lack of efficient prioritization for school construction, and failing schools. In the May 7, 2006 issue of The Asbury Park Press Elizabeth school officials were documented as inflating student enrollment figures. The article stated that “Elizabeth school district officials estimated there would be 26,113 students in the school by 2003-04. They were off by almost 5,000…enrollment stood at 21,124 last year.”

This year the Elizabeth Board of Education was informed that funding does not exist for the construction of new schools throughout the City. In a letter dated April 6, 2006 to Board of Education President Rafael Fajardo, the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation stated that “the (Capital) Plan does not include the Vocational High School…and…since the SCC does not currently have the funding to build this school or acquire the land, we are not interested in acquiring land for this project. Further, the SCC is not ‘land banking’ parcels.”

Furthermore, issues of inefficient educational programs and absenteeism continue to plague the School District. According to Board of Education President Rafael Fajardo in a January 20, 2006 Star Ledger, “over 18 percent of our high school graduates cannot get a job. The suspension rate is 22 percent, expulsions are 4 percent and absenteeism is 11 percent.”

The Board of Education was also cited in the March 15, 2006 edition of The Star Ledger, which outlined that eight Elizabeth public schools face sanctions for five consistent years of non-compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.