By BRIAN DONOHUE
Red Bank Borough Public Schools, a K-8 district, serves a student body that is 87% Latino and 79% economically disadvantaged. In comparison, the neighboring K-8 districts of Little Silver and Shrewsbury are each more than 90% White, with fewer than 0.1% of students from low-income families. By contrast, the high school enrolls a strikingly diverse student body — about 45% Latino, 46% White, with the remaining students identifying as Black, multiracial or other backgrounds. Approximately 40% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The op-ed describes efforts by the 1,300 student school to correct patterns after a 2018 self-assessment found students of color and those from low-income households “severely underrepresented” in Advanced Placement and other advanced programs.
“Despite embracing diversity as a core value, our policies and school culture appeared to reinforce the very divisions we claimed to oppose,” it reads.
Several years of multi-pronged efforts, the officials write, have led to major gains without the backlash integration initiatives can sometimes meet.
More from the op-ed:
“More students from underrepresented backgrounds are enrolling in advanced classes and succeeding. Between 2018 and 2024, low-income enrollment jumped from under 4% to over 30% in advanced ELA courses, and climbed past 20% in AP U.S. History and IB History of the Americas. Gains were made across multiple disciplines, cutting into gaps that had persisted for years. Moreover, with the broader mix of students, performance has not dropped. Grades and test outcomes have held steady or improved.”
“Meanwhile, our efforts to ensure that access to academic opportunity is inclusive have not triggered a negative reaction. In every core sending district, a growing percentage of middle school graduates — more than 80% from each community in 2025 — are choosing Red Bank Regional over private or county vocational high schools.”
The Asbury Park Press is part of the Gannett-owned USA Today chain of newspapers that also owns The Record of Hackensack and other New Jersey papers.
The full op-ed can be read here (although a subscription may be required).
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.
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