Schools at the Jersey Shore to receive $11M more in aid from Trenton
Schools across both counties are set to receive $519 million from Trenton for the 2025-26 school year.
Some districts here saw large increases in their state aid packages, including Barnegat (up $1.4 million), Keansburg (nearly $1.5 million) and Lakewood ($1.6 million).
Other public schools saw major cuts, such as Long Branch (down $1.3 million) and the Freehold Regional High School District (down $916,000).
This year, state officials said they tweaked the state aid formula, which has been widely criticized for being unpredictable and having wild swings in funding. That lack of predictability made it difficult for New Jersey schools to prepare their annual budgets.
For the vast majority of schools, state officials set limits for the first time on how far state aid could swing compared to last year's numbers. Increases were kept to 6% or less while decreases were limited to no more than 3%, in most cases, Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said Thursday during a meeting with reporters.
"It's no secret that this was a tough budget year for the state, but over the last eight years, Gov. (Phil) Murphy has ensured that the public education system remains at the forefront of his priorities for New Jersey, and this budget is no different," Dehmer told reporters.
Across New Jersey, Murphy increased aid to schools by $385 million, for a total of $12.1 billion for the coming school year, according to his staff. The money will help education the state's roughly 1.4 million public school students.
At the Central Regional School District in Berkeley Township, Superintendent Michelle CarneyRay-Yoder and Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea were pleased to see their aid package increase. State support to Central Regional will increase by $1 million, about 18% higher than last year's allocation, according to state figures released Thursday.
"We are very pleased to get this additional state aid given the economic factors that we're facing, including large anticipated cost increases for electric, natural gas, and employee health insurance," they said in an email to the Asbury Park Press.
Central Regional has also seen an increase in the district's population of low-income and English learner students, which has affected the school budget, said CarneyRay-Yoder and O'Shea. The district also receives state money as part of an interdistrict public school choice program, they said.
Aid for school choice programs — as well as for students with parents in the military, county vocational schools and money needed to ensure students receive an adequate education — can lead to aid packages that exceed the 6% increase cap and 3% aid reduction limit, according to a spokesman for the Department of Education.
At Toms River Regional School District, which is set to receive $1.6 million more state aid than last year, Superintendent Michael Citta said the coming school year will still be painful for students and staff. The aid package is not nearly enough to close a looming budget hole, he said.
"We're still projecting a $22 million deficit next year" due to years of previous state aid cuts, Citta said in a phone call with the Press. "This (additional money) doesn't even put a little dent into the crisis that is our financial fiscal cliff."
School districts are limited in how quickly they can increase local taxes for education, due to a state-mandated 2% cap on tax levy increases.
However, some districts that are paying far less than what the state considers their fair share of school costs will be afforded some "flexibility" to exceed the local tax levy cap, said Dehmer, the state education commissioner. In doing so, those districts will also be eligible for some additional state funding.
Details of that program, including which schools would be eligible, are expected to be released later this year, he said.
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 17 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore schools see aid increase, but others face large cuts
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