Toms River Schools, Ocean County Negotiating Property Sale: Superintendent

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional School District is in negotiations with the Ocean County Board of Commissioners to sell the district's administration building and property to the county, Superintendent Michael Citta said Wednesday.

The property at 1144 Hooper Ave. is assessed at $16 million, Citta said as he gave an update on the district's efforts to fill the $12.4 million gap in the 2024-25 budget.

The district is selling the property to fill the gap rather than risk state monitoring by reaching a cash flow default in May, Citta said. "You open yourself up ... (for the state) to decide and drive the bus on the future of education and what that looks like in Toms River," he said, explaining the effort to sell the property.

The move comes as the district's lawsuit against the state Department of Education awaits its next hearing. The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey's Superior Court, was transferred to the Chancery Division, which hears matters of equity. It also has been moved to Mercer County.

The state has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit — a standard step in lawsuits — and that is scheduled for a hearing on March 14, according to court records.

"Knowing that lawsuit will take a long time to get to the endgame, there are things we need to do in the here and now," Citta said. "We have $12.4 million we need to raise in this fiscal year."

The district has had six properties appraised, with the goal of avoiding an impact on students, he said.

The building at 1144 Hooper Ave., which the district purchased in 1997 from Allstate Life Insurance Co. for $6.275 million, houses the district's administration and its Early Learning Center, which serves about 350 preschoolers, including students with special needs.

The district also earns income from renting part of the 92,000-square-foot building to other companies, including Bayada, M&T Bank and the engineering firm T&M Associates.

Citta said the district will be moving the preschool students to North Dover Elementary School, which will bring that building to capacity, he said.

The district is working with Ocean County officials to avoid some of the problems with putting the building out to a public bid.

"In Jackson, they were forced to sell an elementary school," Citta said. "When you go out to bid, it goes to the highest bidder. You are at the mercy of what those public bids come in at."

The Jackson Township Schools closed Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School at the end of the 2023-24 school year and sold the property, and have announced the plan to close Christa McAuliffe Middle School. On Wednesday night the superintendent announced the district will merge its two high schools, Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty, and will be filing a lawsuit against the state Department of Education accusing it of funding inequities, the Asbury Park Press reported.

By partnering with the county, similarly to how the district partnered with Toms River Township to sell land the district owned near Silver Bay Elementary in 2023, the property remains in taxpayer hands instead of going to a private entity, Citta said.

Citta acknowledged the property sales "are one-time Band-aid fixes" to the district's financial woes "the state of New Jersey has imposed upon us." Toms River Regional's 2025-26 budget begins with a more than $20 million budget gap as a result of the two one-time revenue infusions.

Partnering with the county "provides the stability for teachers and for student programs" while also maintaining the district's community schools, Citta said. The preschool teachers will be in a more secure setting and have more resources easily available at North Dover, he said.

Citta expressed optimism that the school funding and the inequities of the funding formula will be addressed and that Toms River Regional will be heard.

Facing a budget gap of at least $20 million for 2025-26, Citta said he is "a lot more confident" of solutions to the financial challenges than he was a year ago, noting measures such as legislators proposing bills to address the funding formula and the public hearings held by the Department of Education on the state's school funding.

"This is a funding formula issue. This is a legislation issue," he said. "This isn't an individual issue."