COLD SPRING – As of July 1, Richard M. Teitelman Middle School Principal Gregory Lasher has taken on the superintendent’s job at Lower Cape May Regional School District, the county’s only regional school district.
Lasher succeeds Joseph Castellucci, who served as superintendent since 2019.
The regional school is supported by a school tax in the three communities of Lower Township, Cape May, and West Cape May. Cape May Point also has students who attend the LCMR district on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The LCMR district has two schools that together cover grades seven through 12. The district has about 1,200 students and just over 100 full-time equivalent teachers.
The 2023-2024 user-friendly budget states that the cost of education in the district is $21,833 per student. The district has almost two out of every three of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Cape May has attempted over the years to change the regional school arrangement that has it paying roughly one-third of the tax levy for the district even though the city sends a far fewer percentage of students to the middle and high schools.
Property values drive the tax formula, increasing the percentage that Cape May taxpayers pay. The controversy has been quiet since Cape May’s last attempt at a change almost a decade ago.
Lasher received school board approval for his new position in April, with no formal announcement at the time.
He takes the reins at the district at a time when parent groups in several county districts have asserted themselves in opposition to state initiatives on sex education, health curriculum, and gender issues.
stay in the know