A growing coalition of school districts is calling for a new state funding formula, as education aid continues to plummet for members' schools statewide under Gov. Phil Murphy.
The coalitionof 97 school districts, known as Support Our Students Advocacy Group, said the currentframework for aid distributionis outdated and unfair. Adopted in 2018 and known as S2, the plan designed toincrease aid for districts with notablegains in enrollmentis ideal in concept but unbalanced in execution, members say.
The coalition "completely supports districts that were underfunded, maintaining that those districts must receive their fair share,” said J. Kenyon kummi*ngs, the coalition co-leader and the superintendent of Wildwood City schools in Cape May County. “But it also must be accomplished in a manner that does not destroy the education and opportunities for students in school districts where state aid is being suddenly and severely reduced.”
In North Jersey, Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties have districts in the coalition, but Bergen and Essex counties do not.
Northern Passaic County and western Morris County have a number of semi-rural districts that lost funding and will do so again next year, according to figures.
Wildwood City’s state aid is set to drop more than $200,000 in 2020-21 as a result of the reallocation in aid. The district this year lost $230,000, a cut of more than 4%.
Further reductions are expected for that district and others in the coalition as S2 progressively realigns aid to compensate for changes in enrollment, demographics and tax rates that went unaccounted for under Gov. Chris Christie, according to officials in the Murphy administration.
Advocates for S2 say state officials need to fully fund districts overlooked and underfunded during that span. Christopher Fay of the Fair Funding Action Committee supported accelerating the plan to balance aid distributions through S2 in front of lawmakers during Tuesday budget hearings on the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus in Newark. He urged lawmakers to commit to S2.
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“When we look at overfunding some districts, about one-third in the state, and underfunding two-thirds, that means that we have haves and have-nots,” Fay said. “We’re looking forward to the day when all districts, including mine, will be funded at 100%.”
The governor’s budget proposal increases school aid by $300 million. However, Fay said another $1.1 billion is needed to fully fund all districts underS2.
A member of the East Greenwich school board in Gloucester County, Fay said aid is becoming increasingly crucial as costs from infrastructure to pensions are rising statewide. Most recently, the state has asked districts to rapidly develop plans for remote learning in the event that schools need to be closed for several weeks or more due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Kathryn Davenport, the business administrator for coalition member school Lakeland Regional High School in Passaic County, said the formula also needs to better account for the significant costs of special education. The district once benefited from increased funding to account for specific needs, she said. That is no longer the case, she added.
The governor’s $41 million budget proposal for 2020-21 increases overall spending by 5%. Increases are tied to college tuition assistance, NJ Transit improvements and public school aid. Accompanying revenues include a new level of income tax for those earning between $1 million and $5 million.
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Only one of the 35 member districts in the coalition’s northern district is due to receive more aid for the upcoming school year. Hackettstown schools are due another $1.2 million,a nearly 17% increase.
The coalition represents more than 16% of all districts in New Jersey. Counties from Sussex to Cape May are on the list, though there are omissions in between.
Most districts, roughly two-thirds of the state’s nearly 600, are set to see increased aid in the upcoming school year. Paterson is set to gain $24 million, Newark$53 millionand Trenton $19 million. Jersey City leads the losses, with a$55 million cut.
Others from throughout the state seeing significant cutsinclude Asbury Park at $5.1 million, Lower Township in Cape May at $1.2 million and Vernon and neighboring West Milford at roughly $2 million each. The latter's school board is currently mulling a 2.5% propertytax increase designed to raise $1.4 million in offsettingrevenue, records show.
State officials announced shortly after the aid figures were released at the end of February that the Department of Education used outdated tax data when calculating aid distributions. Only one district was affected, however.
Pemberton, a coalition member district in Burlington County, will receive $2 million more in aid than initially allocated. The district is now preparing to lose $2.6 million in aid in 2020-21.
David Zimmer is a local reporter forNorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email:zimmer@northjersey.comTwitter:@dzimmernews
