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New Jersey School District Cannot Account
for $20 Million in Missing Funds

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Posted By: Mercedes44, 1/9/2026 9:29:04 PM

The Montclair Public School District in New Jersey cannot account for $20 million in missing funds. To make matters worse, local officials project a $25 million deficit “over the next four years.” September The crisis came to light in September when Montclair Township said it couldn’t help the school district with the $20 million deficit. Township Manager Stephen D. Marks said, “We are not the federal government, and we cannot print money.” How did that happen? The school district admitted the deficit “is due to years of unbudgeted for spending.” “The deficit is the result of money that was spent and was not budgeted,

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Reply 1 - Posted by: MickTurn 1/9/2026 10:11:14 PM (No. 2052411)
At Least they are too incompetent to TEACH basic Finance and money management to students!
15 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: JimBob 1/9/2026 10:38:20 PM (No. 2052432)
Fraud or Criminal Negligence? I have no training as a 'Business Administrator', but I believe I could handle the books without spending $20,000,000 that was not 'authorized' or 'budgeted for'.
31 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: padiva 1/9/2026 10:44:49 PM (No. 2052435)
Outcome-based dem accounting????
23 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: DVC 1/10/2026 12:11:16 AM (No. 2052467)
Garnish the wages of ALL teachers until they recover the funds.
16 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: mifla 1/10/2026 5:10:39 AM (No. 2052489)
It is your job to account for such funds. Anyone getting fired or is this business as usual? Any of the teachers driving luxury cars or taken five star vacations lately?
16 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: 5 handicap 1/10/2026 5:48:07 AM (No. 2052507)
Start the firings from the Top Down, they'll lose fewer people that way, and very probably get the perpetrator.
24 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: Strike3 1/10/2026 6:46:23 AM (No. 2052525)
High local taxes increase the potential for "unbudgeted" spending.
16 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: Venturer 1/10/2026 7:03:25 AM (No. 2052534)
These are the intelligent people who are college educated, the brightest of the bright, PHD's who run these school boards and cannot see they are spending too much until they are 20 Million dollars in the hole. The same bunch who run colleges. But with colleges they cannot print money but they can raise the tuition until no one can afford an education.
18 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: Msquared112 1/10/2026 7:07:36 AM (No. 2052537)
This is too easy; just look for the nearest Somali learing center.
19 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: billa57 1/10/2026 7:15:06 AM (No. 2052541)
It is easy for the New Jersey school administrators to get away with taking millions. No one is watching them. Where is Elliot Ness when you need him?
10 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: anniebc 1/10/2026 8:29:51 AM (No. 2052576)
You want to talk about some waste, fraud, and abuse, let's talk about big education from cradle to college. I'm sympathetic to teachers, and there are major issues in the classroom itself, but the majority of problems in education are at the district/admin level. Most of those people (not all) are the worst at business in general, operations, procurement, curriculum, instruction, data, and certainly finance. Being on a school board is nothing to brag about; it just means you're overseeing chaotic mismanagement at its highest levels. The culture at district level is very often every man for himself and marxism, not a winning place to be.
10 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: NYbob 1/10/2026 8:33:09 AM (No. 2052577)
Some posters jump on TEACHERS as the problem. Since when do teachers have a say in school district spending? Teachers get bright ideas from Presidents, and various windbags, shoved down there throats, while trying to teach feral kids. The are the foot soldiers in the battle for our nations soul. Fighting an American culture that is rotting and falling apart. From lazy parents, to teachers unions who protect incompetent teachers, to courts and superintendents who force them to offer porn to our kids. Critics would not last 5 minutes in a classroom full of violent 'students', or even ONE disruptive child. IF a teacher would dare to discipline a thug or defend themselves, they often don't get support, but so many critics take a cheap shot, because they are still nursing some experience from their student days. I understand the damage bad teachers can do, and there is no excuse for them in the system. Just like malicious or stupid LEOS, they should be fired quickly. The bigger issue here is a school board and administrators, elected by a dumb public, and a system so pathetic they need a 20 million debt before they notice.
12 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: montwoodcliff 1/10/2026 9:09:38 AM (No. 2052611)
Without even looking her up, I’ll bet she was a DEI hire. They should put her in jail for incompetence! Montclair has the highest taxes on the planet, and with this large a deficit, you either raise taxes to the moon or declare bankruptcy. That woman wrecked East Orange and Montclair hired her. Shame on them. Those towns are in Essex County, which includes Newark, and much of the tax money collected in Essex County supports Newark. The towns in Essex essentially keep Newark afloat. These are your Democrats at work
14 people like this.

Reply 14 - Posted by: Rumblehog 1/10/2026 9:21:27 AM (No. 2052619)
Has anyone noticed how these "inexplicable" budget shortfalls, misappropriations, and "inappropriate" spending always seem to plague people of African descent? Is that racist, or just a factual observation? /s
13 people like this.

Reply 15 - Posted by: 3XALADY 1/10/2026 9:23:40 AM (No. 2052623)
Anyone check overseas accounts of the administrators and maybe teachers and maybe school board?
4 people like this.

Reply 16 - Posted by: downnout 1/10/2026 9:26:12 AM (No. 2052624)
How does a district spend money without the necessary paperwork??
6 people like this.

Reply 17 - Posted by: Ida Lou Pino 1/10/2026 9:27:23 AM (No. 2052628)
"Joisey loves crooks - -, and crooks love Joisey"™ I expect to receive royalties - - whenever my trademarked expression is used.
5 people like this.

Reply 18 - Posted by: Ida Lou Pino 1/10/2026 9:35:14 AM (No. 2052633)
For those of you who want to get a look at Christina Hunt - - former administrator - - take a look here - - - - https://montclairlocal.news/2025/06/montclair-school-business-administrator-resigns-amid-questions-debt/ DEI hire? No - - DEI on steroids hire!
3 people like this.

Reply 19 - Posted by: JHHolliday 1/10/2026 10:43:33 AM (No. 2052673)
When my widowed aunt moved from Montclair south to my town to be with my widowed mom she bought a house here and was shocked that the property taxes were a third of Montclair's plus lower costs for everything else. This is one of the reasons the red states are growing at the expense of the blue ones. I just don't want them to bring their foolish liberal ideas with them.
2 people like this.

Reply 20 - Posted by: Lawsy0 1/10/2026 12:09:53 PM (No. 2052751)
Backdoor thinking: maybe they lied about having collected $20 million to begin with?
1 person likes this.

Reply 21 - Posted by: Lawsy0 1/10/2026 12:16:53 PM (No. 2052755)
Really and for true? Which came first, the theft or the jewelry cross around her neck. I think it was Billy Jeff Shakespeare who mentioned "Even the devil can quote Scripture for his own purpose."
1 person likes this.

Reply 22 - Posted by: Peregrine 1/10/2026 12:20:53 PM (No. 2052759)
Where were the auditors?
1 person likes this.

Reply 23 - Posted by: NotaBene 1/10/2026 1:36:58 PM (No. 2052798)
I really miss dear Zigrid.
0 people like this.

Reply 24 - Posted by: earlybird 1/10/2026 7:40:48 PM (No. 2052890)
FTA: No one has accused Hunt “of criminal or intentional wrongdoing.” However, a review of audits raised financial red flags from Montclair and East Orange, her most recent districts, since 2021: (similar story) Hunt may be incojpetent, but those who pay contrator in excess of the bid threshold without authoruthorization are usually getting a kickback
0 people like this.

Reply 25 - Posted by: Deborah Grannet 1/11/2026 12:09:06 AM (No. 2052994)
#23, what happened to Zigrid?
0 people like this.

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