Here’s How A State Monitor Would Impact Montclair’s Schools, Group Finds

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Would installing a state monitor have a major impact on Montclair’s public schools? That’s an easy question to answer, advocates say – yes.

What kind of impact? That’s a trickier conundrum to unravel.

Local advocacy group Montclair Partnership for Accountability, Clarity and Trust (MPACT) recently released an explainer about state monitors ahead of an upcoming special election on March 10. View it online here.

Need to play catchup? Here’s what is happening:

The Montclair Public School District is facing a looming budget gap that swelled to nearly $20 million. A taxpayer bailout was set to go before local voters in a special election in December 2025. However, a judge cancelled the referendum, calling the ballot language “convoluted” and siding with a local resident who filed a lawsuit to stop the election. The board went back to the drawing board, and is now taking another crack at the referendum. In January, the board approved two, new ballot questions for a special election on March 10. Montclair residents will get to vote separately on each question, which now come with an “interpretive statement” for voters.

The Montclair Public School District will have to accept a state loan to cover the gap if local voters reject the referendum. A loan would come with a state financial monitor – a fate that other Essex County districts have also encountered over the past decade.

• See Related: NJ Appoints State Monitor In Nutley Schools Amid Financial Woes
• See Related: State Monitor Removed From Belleville Schools, Officials Cheer

SCHOOL MONITORS IN NEW JERSEY: WHAT DO THEY DO?

According to MPACT, a state monitor can have a big influence on a school district, including in key areas such as property taxes, instruction and school busing.

But there’s a big problem the group ran into while researching the job: a lack of facts.

“Clarifying what is known and not known about state monitors is challenging,” MPACT reported. “Beyond the state law that creates state monitors, there is virtually no official information about them from the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE).”

The DOE’s website provides “zero data, guidance, memos, regulations, reports, reviews or assessments” relating to the program, the group said – even though it is nearly two decades old.

“The lack of information is problematic as a general matter of public transparency and accountability, and is particularly problematic for a community like Montclair that is voting on this choice,” advocates said.

While a school district pays a state monitor’s salary, the rate and cost are determined by the state – without district input. Qualifications for state monitors are not spelled out in law or available in state guidance, MPACT said.

Here’s what else the group found while researching about state monitors in New Jersey – and how having one might impact Montclair:

AUTHORITY – “State Monitors have a clear mandate to exercise fiscal control over school districts, ensuring that corrective actions are made, the budget is balanced, and the State is repaid on its loan. In exercising this authority, State Monitors have broad discretion over nearly every aspect of a school system. It is likely that exercise of their authority will be deemed valid as long as there is a fiscal reason for it.”

‘THOROUGH AND EFFICIENT’ – “In exercising their authority, a State Monitor cannot make changes that go below the New Jersey State constitutional minimum of a “thorough and efficient education,” a standard that is lower than academic excellence. While State Monitors are not prohibited from allowing policies that would improve academic achievement, if this objective clashes with their fiscal mandate, the conflict would likely be resolved in favor of fiscal management. Alternatively, the State Monitor could propose or allow a proposal to raise taxes in order to strengthen academics.”

CREDENTIALS – “It does not appear that a State Monitor would bring any additional credentials or expertise that the Montclair school district already has through its current superintendent and business administrator, creating the risk of duplication, administrative burden, and waste.”

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE – “State Monitors are not required to be ‘highly skilled professionals’ or to provide ‘technical assistance’ – terms defined under educational law. Nor are State Monitors required to make decisions that will put districts on sound long-term financial footing through, for example, short-term investments. Thus, residents should not view a State Monitor as providing the analysis, creativity, and strategic problem-solving to fundamentally alter the revenue and expense structures that drive structural deficits. In fact, were a State Monitor to take such action, they might be at legal risk if a court finds doing so exceeds the scope of their authority.”

UNIQUE TO MONTCLAIR – “Appointment of a State Monitor to a district in Montclair's situation may be novel: State Monitors are appointed to oversee corrective actions that led to their appointment and/or to ensure repayment of a State loan. But, the current Superintendent and Business Administrator leading Montclair schools came after the events that led to this crisis. It is not clear if the State has appointed monitors in this situation before, where new district leadership has come in after the triggering conditions and where they are already leading corrective actions approved by the State including already having made significant cuts to help balance the budget. This has important policy implications.”

CHALLENGING THE MONITOR – “It appears that the main, and perhaps only, accountability mechanism for a State Monitor by local stakeholders is through litigation. The law establishes very broad authority for State Monitors, which means legal challenges over policy differences would likely be decided in favor of the State Monitor. It is also not clear whether the district would have to pay for legal representation of the monitor in any situation where it was sued, creating either a disincentive to hold a State Monitor accountable, or imposing financial burden on the district to make a reasonable challenge to the monitor's actions.”

BUDGET CUTS – “With the budget cuts that come with the advance of state aid and the State Monitor's authority to veto local decisions based on fiscal management, academic achievement in Montclair could suffer significantly under a State Monitor, with little or no recourse for the District.”

DETERMINING SUCCESS – “The State Department of Education’s complete lack of information or data about their State Monitor program leaves the public to guess about how State Monitors exercise their authority, the outcomes of having a State Monitor, and whether the program is successful.”

Two MPACT members – each a parent in the Montclair public school district – co-authored the group’s deep dive into state monitors.

“Discussions we have observed tend to be threaded with assumptions, hopes, and projections where there is little evidence,” said Jason Bell, a parent of two Montclair public school students.

“The state’s failure to publish data about and write official policy for a two-decade old program that has significant consequences for local districts is a flawed approach and cause for alarm,” agreed Dan Hafetz, another Montclair parent.

“While the appointment of a state monitor may be justified in some cases, the complete lack of information is not,” Hafetz said.

View the full explainer online here.

• Related: Montclair Takes Another Crack At School Taxpayer Bailout
• Related: Montclair Superintendent Addresses Public ‘Anxiety’ About School Finances
• Related: Montclair School Officials Discuss Budget Woes At Town Hall (WATCH)

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