Toms River School Board Member's Lawsuit Against Own Board Dismissed

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A lawsuit filed by a member of the Toms River Regional Board of Education against her fellow school board members over the hiring of an attorney has been dismissed.

Marisa Matarazzo filed the lawsuit Jan. 30 alleging the Toms River Regional school board violated school contract laws and the Open Public Meetings Act in the hiring of Patrick Toscano in December. The lawsuit also accused board president Ashley Lamb of improperly voting on the hiring, alleging she had a conflict of interest.

The board approved the hiring of Toscano as special litigation for conflict attorney at its Dec. 17 board meeting by a 5-2 vote. Lamb and board members Kevin Kidney, Kathy Eagan, Lisa Contessa and James Capone voted in favor and Matarazzo and Paola Pascarella voted against. Board members Joseph Jubert and Katie Coyne were absent from that meeting.

Toscano was hired to represent Superintendent Michael Citta and the school board in anticipated litigation against Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick over what Toscano described in a Dec. 5 letter as "certain improper, real and questionable political interference" with the school board and with Citta's role as superintendent, with BOE business and with their authority.

Matarazzo's lawsuit, filed by Donald Burke Jr., alleged the hiring didn't follow the proper procedures and should have been put out as a request for proposals, rather than an appointment, and that the board violated the Open Public Meetings Act.

The lawsuit also said Lamb should have recused herself from voting on the contract because Toscano represents her husband, Justin Lamb, in an unrelated matter.

It sought to have the contract with Toscano voided, asserting it was executed in private more than a week before it was presented to the school board for approval.

Ronald Israel, the attorney for the board, filed a motion on March 18 seeking the dismissal on the grounds that Matarazzo had not pursued her claims through the administrative process with the state Department of Education. The motion also said her claim "upon which relief can be granted" regarding the Open Public Meetings Act had not been stated.

Burke, who represents Rodrick in the mayor's personal matters, opposed the dismissal motion, saying Matarazzo was not required to go through the administrative process and that the courts had jurisdiction to rule on the case.

Burke's motion said it was clear the hiring was done in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act because of the letter Toscano had sent on Dec. 5 to Rodrick and Toms River Police Chief Guy Maire stating the firm was representing Citta and the school board and notifying them that a lawsuit would be forthcoming.

In this case, the material terms of the contract, including scope and compensation, were discussed, negotiated, and agreed upon by defendant Toms River Regional Board of Education outside of a properly noticed public meeting and a consensus or decision to retain Patrick Toscano was reached prior to the public meeting of December 17, 2025," the motion said.

Israel, in the dismissal motion, said "The mere unilateral execution of an engagement letter by counsel, absent public deliberation or approval by the board, does not constitute board action subject to OPMA."

"The courts have emphasized the requirement for 'concrete evidence of improper deliberation, not mere speculation based on suspicious timing,' " he wrote. "Allegations based solely on conjecture or circumstantial inference — such as the assertion that contract execution prior to public approval 'reasonably infers' improper discussion — are legally insufficient."

Israel also argued that Lamb was not conflicted solely because Toscano represented her husband because there was no evidence that she was gaining anything from him representing the board.

On April 24, Superior Court Judge John G. Ducey signed the dismissal order, agreeing that Matarazzo needed to pursue and exhaust the administrative challenges before the matter came before a judge on the issues of the board violating its policies and the accusation that Lamb had a conflict.

Ducey dismissed the claim of the Open Public Meetings Act violation separately, "without prejudice for failure to state a claim." He gave Matarazzo 30 days to file an amended complaint on that count only "to provide facts that leads to a cause of action," according to the order.

During Wednesday's meeting, board member Kathy Eagan, who was leading the meeting in the physical absence of Lamb, who joined by phone as she recovers from the birth of her daughter, and board vice president Capone, read a statement about the dismissal into the meeting record.

"The Ocean County trial court ruled entirely in the board's favor in the dispute ... denying the relief she sought in its entirety and dismissing her complaint against the board. We hope that this is the end of her baseless attempt to preclude the board from being able to select legal counsel of its choosing. And another reason why I really hope is that we spent had to spend extra money for legal fees that should have been going to our students, not for legal fees."

Matarazzo did not comment on the matter at the meeting.