Newark schools ordered to refund $33K in state aid spent on staff ‘Fun Day’

The Newark Board of Education on Tuesday approved paying back more than $33,000 in state aid spent on a “Fun Day” for district staffers and their children at a woodsy catering facility last June, after Department of Education auditors concluded the event failed to meet standards for public spending.
“The Fun Day activities, while fostering camaraderie, did not align with the specific education or organizational goals required for events funded through public sources,” Jamar Purnsley, director of the department’s Office of Accountability and Compliance, wrote in an Oct. 25 letter to Newark Superintendent Roger León.
The June 1 event, formally titled “Central Office Staff Fun Day,” was held at the Forest Lodge in Warren Township, about 24 miles from Newark. Activities that day included basketball and volleyball games, egg toss competitions, a corn hole tournament, scavenger hunt, limbo competition, trivia contest, and hula hoop contest, among others. There was also a social media photo booth, caricature artists, and a 10-minute opening address by León.
Purnsley’s letter noted that, in seeking to justify spending on the event, the district “contended that the Fun Day event was intended to promote team building and enhance a positive organizational culture, aligning with the district’s broader goals for climate improvement.”
But the accountability office said the Fun Day had little if any academic value, and that the activities were led by Forest Lodge staff, not district officials or faculty.
“The activities held during Fun Day were largely recreational and focused on leisure, competition, and amusement,” the letter stated. “There was no apparent involvement of district leadership in directing, overseeing, or structuring the team-building sessions in a manner that linked them to district goals.”
Ultimately, the state found that spending on the event violated state statues N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-5.8(e)2, which governs fiscal accountability, efficiency and budgeting, and N.J.S.A. 18A:11-12(a), involving travel and field trips.
Purnsley ordered that the district refund $33,649 of the $43,813 total cost of Fun Day.
The refund amounts to 76% of the event’s cost, a percentage officials said was based on the share of the district’s 2024-25 budget of $1.5 billion paid for by state aid. The state contributed $1.25 billion to Newark’s budget, or 83%, though the district’s total spending and state’s total aid figures include $400 million dedicated solely to Newark’s publicly-funded but independently operated charter schools.
Although several wealthier school districts throughout New Jersey had their state aid cut for 2024-25, Newark officials noted when the district budget was adopted in March that the $101 million in additional aid allocated by Gov. Phil Murphy made this the first year the district received the full amount it was due under New Jersey’s education funding formula.
Last month’s letter from Purnsley further ordered district officials to review and discuss the state’s findings during a public board meeting and to approve a corrective action plan addressing the issues cited by the state — resulting in Tuesday night’s discussion and unanimous approval of a resolution to refund the money and initiate a corrective action plan.
The district also had the option of appealing the state’s findings. However, León and the district’s lawyer, General Counsel Brenda Liss, advised board members not to appeal, advice they ultimately followed.
Board member Crystal Williams questioned León and Liss on the matter, asking how the district could have been cited for multiple violations, why the event lacked a sufficient professional development component, and where the $33,000 refund money come from?
“We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Williams.
District Business Administrator Valerie Wilson told Williams that the state hadn’t yet demanded payment, and she suggested it could be deducted from future aid disbursements to the district.
At one point, Board Co-Vice President Veraliz Santana asked, “Wait, so does that mean no more Fun Day going forward?”
But León suggested there would be more fun to come, and that the state had merely provided “guidance” for how the event should be conducted in the future.
Liss assured board members that agreeing to refund the money and undertake a corrective action plan did not amount to an admission of wrongdoing.
“We are not asking the Board of Education to admit any violation,” Liss told members.
After the meeting, Board President Hasani Council defended Fun Day’s value as a morale booster that would help retain valued employees. He also rejected criticism of the event earlier this year that prompted the state to look into it.
“We probably have to add some things to it, according to what was given back to us,” Council said. But, he added, “One, it wasn’t a party, it was an appreciation process. And two, this district has been underfunded for several years, and no one has complained about us being under-funded for those years.”
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Steve Strunsky may be reached at [email protected].