NEW JERSEY — A major school funding package to address state aid cuts that have been described as “cataclysmic” and a “perfect storm” may be settled by Monday, state Sen. Vin Gopal said Thursday.
Gopal, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, told Patch a deal could be in place within 48 hours to address the funding cuts laid out in Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed 2023-24 budget that threaten to cripple districts, particularly ones in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
It would provide $100 million in relief to districts affected by cuts under S2, the state law enacted in 2018 that has cut funding to more than 100 districts statewide.
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“We’ve really been putting pressure on Murphy to address this,” said Gopal, a Democrat who represents the 11th District. His district encompasses several Monmouth County districts that are seeing large aid cuts as well, including Asbury Park, Neptune and Red Bank Borough.
Also among the districts affected are the Toms River Regional Schools and the Brick Township Schools. Toms River Regional is slated to lose $14.4 million under Murphy’s proposed budget, a cut of nearly 32 percent from the 2022-23 aid received and the largest cut, percentage-wise, of any school in the state that received $10 million or more in aid in 2022-23. Brick Township is scheduled to lose $2.5 million, a cut of nearly 15 percent, all a result of S2.
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Toms River Regional Superintendent Michael Citta described the aid cut as “cataclysmic” during Wednesday’s school board meeting, but said he has been hoping diplomacy will prevail and protect programs and staff in the district.
The aid loss could cost the district 200 positions, Citta said during the school board’s committee meetings on March 8. That is in addition to the 186 positions (including 142 teaching positions) already cut over the first five years of S2, and 90 positions that have been funded through federal COVID-19 grants that run out next year, for an overall loss of 476 positions if the $14.4 million cuts goes through.
Brick Township Superintendent Thomas Farrell, in a white paper on the school funding crisis he has circulated to legislators, other school districts and elsewhere, said the Brick schools have had their state funding cut by 49 percent over the course of S2, far more than the lost enrollment that allegedly was driving the push for aid cuts.
In addition, S2 does not provide a mechanism for districts that are under adequacy to generate enough revenue to provide a thorough-and-efficient education, the standard defined in the New Jersey Constitution.
The combination of aid cuts and inability to raise taxes significantly has created a perfect storm financially for Brick, Farrell said.
Under adequacy means a district is not spending the amount per student defined by the state Department of Education as necessary to provide a proper education. Both Brick and Toms River are well under adequacy, Brick by $17 million and Toms River by $63.7 million, according to the 2023-24 budget figures.
School districts are limited to a 2 percent increase in the district’s property tax levy per year, which prevents them from raising property taxes enough to meet what the state Department of Education says is a district’s local fair share.
An attempt to address that issue failed in 2020, when Murphy vetoed a bill that would have provided that mechanism to districts that were at risk because of funding cuts under S2. Read more: NJ Gov. Murphy Vetoes Raising Property Taxes To Fix School Aid
Gopal said he has been speaking with Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill and newly appointed Brick Township Mayor Lisa Crate about the issue, and they presented information to Gopal and other legislators on the anticipated impact of the aid cuts.
“The two mayors really did an outstanding job educating everyone,” Gopal said. “We were able to show them how devastating the cuts are going to be.”
While Toms River’s $14.4 million cut has drawn significant attention, other districts in Ocean and Monmouth are slated for significant aid cuts as well: Jackson Township Schools would lose nearly $6.8 million, or 18.41 of its aid from 2022-23; Freehold Regional, down $6.8 million, or 22.14 percent; Neptune Township, down $4.2 million, or 24.84 percent. Lacey Township Schools would lose nearly $4 million, a 27.49 percent cut from 2022-23; Asbury Park would be cut $8.6 million, or 29.32 percent, and Stafford Township would lose about $2.4 million, a reduction of 30.79 percent.
It’s not just districts near Gopal’s area that would be significantly hurt. The Jersey City Schools are slated for a $51 million cut, nearly 28 percent of the aid the district received in 2022-23, and Wildwood Schools would be saddled with a $2.14 million cut, a 52.8 percent reduction in school aid.
A $100 million influx in emergency aid to districts might address the immediate problem, but Gopal said the state needs to address the funding formula beyond next year. The S2 aid cuts are scheduled to end with the 2024-25 school budget year, but there is no indication what will happen beyond then.
“We unanimously passed a bill in the Senate to restudy the funding formula,” Gopal said, “but the Assembly has not heard it.”
“We need the Assembly to pass that bill so we can move forward,” he said.
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