Lakewood’s Clarke School Sale Faces New Challenges

School board lowers bid minimum after initial $19M offer falls short of $35M goal in crucial budget plan.

Lakewood’s effort to sell former Clarke School falling short

The Board of Education’s efforts to sell the former Ella G. Clarke School for $35 million, which is already earmarked for the current district budget, have fallen short with just one bid for about $19 million.

After rejecting that bid, which was submitted on Feb. 12, the district has issued another RFP – Request for Proposal – with a lower minimum bid of $30 million and set a new submission date of March 4.

District officials would not reveal how many bids were submitted under the original RFP, which was due Feb. 12, what the amounts were, or why they were not accepted.

But an item on Wednesday night’s school board agenda seeking approval for the new RFP indicated that the lone previous bid came from Talmud Torah of Lakewood for $19.1 million.

Calls to Talmud Torah seeking comment were not returned.

The Clarke School sale is a key part of the current $303 million 2025-2026 district budget, which was approved in April 2025 with $35 million in anticipated revenue coming from the sale.

Without that revenue, the district spending plan is technically millions in deficit.