Newark school bosses spent $566K on gym with personal trainer and only 7 people use it: audit

Bosses at Newark Public Schools – where less than half of students read at grade level and even fewer are proficient in math – shelled out $566,000 on an “administrative gym” that averages just seven visitors per day, a staggering new audit revealed. New Jersey’s largest public school district is coming under intense scrutiny after the swanky exercise space was listed among a slew of questionable expenses found by State Auditor David Kaschak.Kaschak also revealed that he referred “certain matters” uncovered during the audit to the state Attorney General’s office for criminal investigation.Not only did the district dole out $300,000 on the gym’s construction without getting board approval or competitive bidding, administrators hired a full-time personal trainer to man the barely-used space – to the tune of $82,800 in the 2024-2025 academic year and $86,940 last school year, according a 36-page state audit. Still, only an average of seven names – all belonging to district administrators – were found scrawled on sign-in sheets over several months last year at the gym, which opened in the basement of the district’s leased headquarters building in November 2024, per the report. Other disturbing findings included the district spending $2.5 million spent on an unfinished school district museum and more than $700,000 on three separate “Senior Day” class trips, which had no documented educational purpose.The audit also found that officials overstated student enrollment by 128 students in 2023 and again by 128 students in 2024 – resulting in almost $6,700,000 in excess state aid granted to the district. Newark has more than 41,000 students enrolled in 65 district schools..There are 7,000 district employees.During the audit period, the school district reportedly received an average of 81% of its general funding from the state. Superintendent Roger León, who makes $330,000 per year, has defended the district’s spending.

District officia...