Asbury Park Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district headquartered in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving children in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.Asbury Park Board of Education District Policy: Identification, Asbury Park Public Schools, adopted December 22, 2010. Accessed February 2, 2026. "Purpose: The Asbury Park Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Asbury Park School District. Composition: The Asbury Park School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the City of Asbury Park." The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. BurkeWhat We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'." which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.What We Do, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.SDA Districts, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 1,482 students and 147.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.1:1.District information for Asbury Park School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
Students from Allenhurst, Deal and Interlaken had all attended the Asbury Park schools through sending/receiving relationships that ended by the 2017–18 school year."Allenhurst Ends Sending-Receiving Relationship with Asbury Park School District", The Coaster, August 7, 2017. Accessed February 2, 2026. "Allenhurst is following in the footsteps of its two neighboring towns and will begin to send its students to West Long Branch Elementary School and to Shore Regional High School on a per-pupil tuition basis. Board of Education President Larry O’Rourke said that Allenhurst school board officials saw Interlaken and Loch Arbour recently make the same move with permission of state Acting-Commissioner of Education Kimberly Harrington."
History In 2009, the board of education voted to rename Bangs Avenue Elementary School in honor of President Barack Obama.Rispoli, Michale. "Asbury Park votes to rename school after President Obama ", The Star-Ledger, August 28, 2009. Accessed February 2, 2026.
In March 2011, the state monitor overseeing the district's finances ordered that Barack Obama Elementary School be closed after the end of the 2010–11 school year, citing a 35% decline in enrollment in the district during the prior 10 years. Students then attending the school would be reallocated to the district's two other elementary schools, with those going into fifth grade assigned to attend middle school. In 2014, the Barack Obama Elementary School reopened, and Asbury Park Middle School, later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, reverted to serving students only from grade 6–8.Shields, Nancy. "State monitor orders Asbury's Barack Obama School closed", Asbury Park Press, March 18, 2011. Accessed April 1, 2011.
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2024.
In July 2014, the New Jersey Department of Education approved a request by Interlaken under which it would end its sending relationship with the Asbury Park district and begin sending its students to the West Long Branch Public Schools through eighth grade and then onto Shore Regional High School.Board of Education of the Borough of Interlaken v. Board of Education of the City of Asbury Park, et al., New Jersey Department of Education, July 17, 2014. Accessed August 18, 2014. "IT IS ORDERED on this 17th day of July 2014 that – pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-13 and N.J.A.C. 6A:3-6.1 – the application of Interlaken for severance of its send-receive relationship with Asbury Park and to establish send-receive relationship with West Long Branch and Shore Regional, as set forth in its petition of appeal, is APPROVED." Loch Arbour and Allenhurst followed Interlaken out of Asbury Park schools and over to West Long Branch and Shore Regional.
Students from Deal had attended the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship that was terminated after the Deal district filed in petition in 2016 and after it was approved was replaced with an agreement with Shore Regional.Reorganization Agenda January 7, 2016 , Shore Regional High School. Accessed October 21, 2018. "Whereas, the content of the announcement was to advise the public that the Deal Board of Education filed a Petition of Appeal with the Commissioner of Education to sever its Sending-Receiving Relationship with the Asbury Park Board of Education, and to establish a new Sending-Receiving Relationship with the Shore Regional High School Board of Education"
With an annual cut in aid of $3.4 million for the 2019-20 school year and more cuts expected in subsequent years, the district was considering a reconfiguration of the district under which Obama Elementary School would be closed, the two remaining elementary schools would serve PreK-3, the middle school would serve grades 4-6 and the high school would cover grades 7-12. The district, which was spending a total cost per pupil of $42,382 in 2017–18, was the subject of an audit in 2019 which found that the district had a capacity to serve 3,095, but an enrollment of 1,862 in 2017–18, a decline from 2,132 nearly a decade earlier.Strupp, Joe. "Asbury Park Schools shake-up would close one school, expand high school grades", Asbury Park Press, July 8, 2019. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The changes come as the district is facing a multi-million dollar state aid cutback that has already meant a 13 percent drop in state aid of $3.4 million for the 2019–2020 school year, Gray stated. She added that estimates of state funding losses through 2025 amount to nearly $25 million." A 2019 audit Strupp, Joe. "State audit: Asbury Park schools need to consolidate and strengthen approval policies", Asbury Park Press, December 4, 2019. Accessed January 28, 2020. "The audit by State Auditor Stephen Eells was a follow-up to a similar review done in 2011 that criticized the district's then-per-pupil spending of $24,306, more than $7,000 above the state average and the highest in the state. It is now at $42,382, according to data released in August.... The audit found that the district population had dropped from 2,132 in 2008-2009 to 1,985 in 2012-2013 and 1,862 in 2017–2018. That has resulted in a reduction in class size for many schools and a waste of resources in others, it said. The data revealed that the district's five schools — three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school — have a capacity for 3,095 students, but enroll just 1,862."
Obama Elementary was closed again in 2020 due to a lack of students.
Schools Schools in the district (with 2024-25 enrollment data from the National Center for Education StatisticsSchool Data for the Asbury Park Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.) are:Our Schools, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026.District Administration, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed January 28, 2020.School Performance Reports for the Asbury Park School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.County School list A-D, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed February 2, 2026.New Jersey School Directory for the Asbury Park Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. Elementary schools Bradley Elementary SchoolBradley Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. with 443 students in grades PreK–2 Zakiya Del Orbe, principal Thurgood Marshall Elementary SchoolThurgood Marshall Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. with 345 students in grades 3–5 Lauren Schulze, principal Middle school Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle SchoolDr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upper Elementary School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. with 195 students in grades 6–8 Kenya Moncur, principal High school Asbury Park High SchoolAsbury Park High School, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. with 379 students in grades 9–12 Perry J. Medina, principal
Administration As of the 2025–26 school year, the core members of the district's administration are:Central Administration, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026.New Jersey School Directory for Monmouth County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. Mark J. Gerbino, acting superintendent of schoolsSuperintendent, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. Ivy Brown, business administrator and board secretaryBusiness Office, Asbury Park Public Schools. Accessed February 2, 2026. Carole Morris, State MonitorTerry, Nicquel. "Who is Asbury's school monitor?", Asbury Park Press, July 25, 2014. Accessed October 21, 2018. "Morris, 75, of Neptune, took the job in September, the fifth monitor for the city since 2007. She has the last say over who the school board hires, fires and how it spends its tax dollars. She also holds the authority to override any action by a school administrator or vote by the school board."