Former Bus Driver Returns as State Monitor for Lakewood Amid Soaring Transportation Costs

A familiar face is returning to the Lakewood School District—but this time with sweeping state authority.

Ingrid Reitano, who first worked for the district as a school bus driver five decades ago, has been appointed by the New Jersey Department of Education as the latest state monitor tasked with overseeing Lakewood’s embattled public school system, the Asbury Park Press first reported. Her assignment? Tackle the spiraling transportation crisis.

Reitano becomes the fourth state-appointed monitor currently assigned to the district—each earning up to $200,000 per year—at a time when Lakewood is facing a staggering $143 million in state loan debt and is seeking another $100 million bailout to balance its upcoming budget.

Reitano’s role will focus exclusively on the district’s transportation operations, which have ballooned in cost over recent years—reaching $53.4 million in 2024–2025, up from $48.8 million the year prior. Over $33 million of that sum went toward transporting private school students—who number around 50,000—compared to the district’s 4,500 public school students.

Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D-30) recently introduced legislation to ease the private school transportation burden on Lakewood and other school districts.

Currently, the amount of state aid each school district receives is partly based on the district’s property values and the income of its residents. Assemblyman Schnall’s bill (A-5788) proposes changing this calculation by removing the costs of transporting nonpublic (private) school students from the formula.