CAPS Charter Schools Violated Public Contract Laws, Committed Nepotism, State Of NJ Says

ASBURY PARK, NJ — A controversial charter school based in Asbury Park violated public contracting laws and state nepotism policies, a new report from the NJ State Comptroller found.

The charter school is College Achieve Public Schools, Inc. (CAPS), which has charter schools throughout New Jersey, including in Asbury Park, Neptune, Paterson and Plainfield.

The state comptroller started investigating CAPS last year, after NJ.com published a series of news articles reporting extremely high salaries (CAPS founder and CEO Michael Piscal is paid $697,528 a year; former CAPS Asbury Park director Jodi McInerney was paid $460,515), plus possible financial mismanagement, illegal procurement practices and a lack of transparency at CAPS.

In New Jersey, charter schools are public schools that are funded by local and state taxes. They operate with more independence than district-run schools. From 2016-2023, CAPS Inc. received $57 million in public funds from the NJ Department of Education.

The state of New Jersey said Monday it is still trying to track down how all $57 million was spent.

"The Office of the State Comptroller has been unable to obtain complete information about how the $57 million was spent, and whether problems remain, because CAPS, Inc. and CAPS Asbury have declined to comply with subpoenas issued by the comptroller, and have instead filed lawsuits against the Office of the State Comptroller," said the State Comptroller.

After the NJ.com reports, multiple state lawmakers asked the state of New Jersey to investigate CAPS. In November 2024, the New Jersey Office of the Comptroller filed a subpoena for all of CAPS' contracts, lease agreements, spending documents, real estate transactions and financial documents.

Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh published his report Monday and in it, makes numerous allegations against CAPS. The state specifically lasered in on the actions of McInerney. She has since been fired by the CAPS board.

The first allegation the state makes is that the CAPS board of directors had no oversight over how the schools were run, specifically at CAPS Asbury Park. Secondly, the state accused McInerney of nepotism: She hired her husband, Tim McInerney, to work as Asbury Park CAPS principal; she hired her mother as an interventionalist and hired her two children for roles that remain unclear, said the state.

Third, under McInerney's leadership, CAPS Asbury Park paid more than $100,000 to a business owned by her brother-in-law, which it chose to work with without obtaining competitive price quotes from other vendors. CAPS purchased its school uniforms from All Shore, ascreen printing and embroidery business, and it did not go through the correct public bidding process to hire the company, the state says.

Fourth, the state says both McInerney and her husband accepted cash-in-hand payments on multiple occasions for renting out the CAPS Asbury Park gym to a local basketball training program.

You can read the Jan. 12, 2026 report here: https://www.nj.gov/comptroller/news/2025/20260112.shtml

CAPS, Inc. first sued the NJ State Comptroller in November 2024. In April 2025, CAPS, Inc. filed a second lawsuit against the state — this one specifically on behalf of CAPS Asbury Park — seeking to block the state's access to an internal investigation.

In May 2024, the Asbury Park school district sued CAPS, saying CAPS siphoned $1.4 million that should have gone to Asbury public schools by enrolling dozens of teenagers who do not actually live in Asbury Park. Similar to other complaints made about CAPS, they allege CAPS enrolls teenagers from across the state and lies about their residency.

Out of 338 kids enrolled in CAPS-Asbury Park for the 2023-24 school year, Asbury Park BOE says they were only able to verify 53 actually live in Asbury Park.

“It’s decimating our public school system, and enriching them,” Asbury Park board finance chair Wendi Glassman told the Star Ledger at the time. “This is a theft of (taxpayer) funds.”

In 2024, CAPS tried to expand into Middletown, when it tried to rent classroom space at the former Mater Dei High School, which was sitting empty at the time. However, the deal fell through, and Mater Dei ended up being torn down last summer.

Lawmakers Want CAPS Investigated, As It Seeks Expansion To Middletown (May 2024)

CAPS Charter School Officially Not Moving Into Mater Dei In Middletown (July 2024)