Are You Aware of The Tale of Two Superintendents?

Read about the lack of fiscal accountability from the Board of Education this past school year.

By Calvin Anderson

The Asbury Park School District has been paying two superintendents for over a year at a cost of almost $500,000 thousand dollars to residents.

This tale of two superintendents was created by the Board of Education when the Board of Education voted to suspend Superintendent Dr. Rashawn Adams in 2024 and to appoint Acting Superintendent Mark Gerbino.

At the time the Board of Education was under the leadership of President Kenneth Sanders and Vice President Joe Grillo who voted to suspend Dr. Adams and simultaneously appoint Mr. Gerbino as Acting Superintendent with a one year contract as a salary of $209,000. This promotion for Mr. Gerbino to Acting Superintendent is approximately $20,000 more than the Board of Education is paying Dr. Adams under his still active contract, which runs through June of 2026.

In February 2025, Dr. Adams filed a lawsuit against the district and the Board of Education as a result of his suspension. To date, the Board of Education leadership of Tracy Rogers and Wendi Glassman have been silent on their plans for suspended Superintendent Dr. RaShawn Adams, their reasons for his suspension and whether the Board of Education is conducting a search for a new permanent superintendent.

Mr. Gerbino’s one year contract is set to expire June 30, 2025; however, according to this current contract the Board of Education is required to perform an annual evaluation of his performance, then have this evaluation adopted by the full Board of Education by June 30th 2025. Should the Board of Education fail to perform the evaluation the Board of Education could possibly be found in breach of Mr. Gerbino’s contract, which could wind up in a lawsuit as they would be in violation of his contract.

Will the Board of Education continue to have residents pay approximately $500,000 thousand dollars for two superintendents for the 2025/2026 school year? With just 5 days until June 30th, the families of Asbury Park deserve to know how the Board of Education plans to end this tale of two superintendents.

The next Board of Education meeting is June 26, 2025 at 6pm at the Bradley Elementary School.