In previous eras, the district
segregated students by race. In 1948 the district had a separate elementary school for black students.
Journal of Negro Education stated the school was "very crude and is situated out in the woods." When
Central Regional High School opened in September 1956,
sending/receiving relationships under which students from
Berkeley Township,
Island Heights,
Lacey Township,
Ocean Gate,
Seaside Heights and
Seaside Park attended the district's schools for grades 7-12 were ended. The Toms River district had announced that it could no longer accommodate students from these six municipalities after that date. Constructed at a cost of $3.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ), Toms River High School North opened in 1969 in order to alleviate overcrowding in the original high school (which was renamed as Toms River High School South), which was found to be too small to accommodate the fast-growing community. When the school opened it served students living north of
Route 37, while those living south of that line would attend Toms River South, including those from the constituent districts of
Beachwood,
Pine Beach and
South Toms River. The first class to graduate wasn't until 1971, since all of the seniors were kept at TRHSS for the class of 1970. By 1974, the district was facing split sessions for students, as the district's first and second high schools, Toms River High School South and Toms River High School North, had a total of 4,600 students, nearly 50% above capacity. To address the overcrowding, a March 1975 bond referendum was proposed to raise $15 million—the largest ever in county history—for construction of a third high school, which was rejected by a margin of nearly a 1,000 votes. Toms River High School East opened in September 1979 on a site in a building constructed at a cost of $10.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Opened at a time of rising energy prices, the building was designed so that each classroom had only two windows in order to reduce heat loss through the glass. With the opening of Intermediate South in September 2005, constructed at a cost of $27 million, all sixth grade classes were shifted from the district's 12 elementary schools to the three middle schools in order to alleviate overcrowding. Also at that time, Intermediate West was renamed Intermediate North. After the
Seaside Park School District closed in 2010, a sending / receiving relationship was established to allow students in grades K-6 from
Seaside Park to attend the Toms River Schools. In 2017, the
Appellate Division affirmed a decision by the
New Jersey Department of Education allowing students from Seaside Park the option of attending school for grades K-6 in either Toms River or in the
Lavallette School District, under the terms of a dual sending/receiving relationship. The Lavallette district had actively supported the proposal when the original petition was submitted in 2015 and the Appellate Division rejected the objections raised by the Toms River district, noting that no protest had been made when Seaside Park had submitted its original petition. The district had been classified by the
New Jersey Department of Education as being in
District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common
socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. In 2018, the district had received requests to change what were perceived as a racially insensitive mascot depicting Native Americans, particularly the Toms River High School South Indians, whose logo depicts a Native American in a headdress, while supporters of retaining the name say that it honors Native Americans. Facing a loss of state aid and demands from the
New Jersey Department of Education that the district must approve a budget for the 2025-26 school year, the district announced on July 2025 that it would file for bankruptcy. Ignoring the bankruptcy threat, the state took over the district's budgeting process for the second consecutive year and imposed a 13% increase for the school year. ==Awards and recognition==