Toms River board accepts Pascarella resignation after member alleges she omitted nearly $300,000 on disclosure

The Toms River Regional Schools Board on Feb. 18 accepted the resignation of board member Pa Pascarella effective Feb. 18, 2026, after trustees raised ethics concerns during a roll-call discussion.

During the vote to accept the resignation, a board member told colleagues that Pascarella had “knowingly lied on her personal financial disclosure by intentionally omitting almost $300,000 in income paid to her family by the township of Toms River” and described prior disruptive conduct at meetings. The speaker said Pascarella submitted a resignation letter “at the 11th hour.” The board voted by roll call to accept the resignation; recorded “Yes” votes included Matarazzo, Jubert, Coin, Contessa, Egan, Kidney, Capone and Lamb.

The allegation about the financial-disclosure omission came during the public roll-call portion; no response from Pascarella was recorded in the meeting transcript and no formal adjudication or supporting documentation was presented on the floor. The transcript does not show any contemporaneous rebuttal from Pascarella, nor does it indicate that the board voted on a separate ethics finding at that time.

Board members moved on to approve other agenda items shortly after accepting the resignation, including grouped agenda items and the certification of the board secretary’s December 2025 report. Several trustees also made brief remarks praising staff, students and district programs.

The meeting record shows the board discussed conflicts-of-interest and disclosure rules earlier in the evening during a formal ethics training; the transcript records statutory citations and an overview of recusal rules but does not include a separate disciplinary proceeding tied to the Pascarella allegation. No additional disciplinary action was recorded in the meeting minutes.