Massive State Aid Cuts For Stafford Schools In 2023-24 Budget

STAFFORD, NJ — New Jersey's proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 includes a massive cut in state aid for the Stafford Township School District, while the Southern Regional School District has a small increase.

Earlier this week, Murphy's administration proposed its fiscal year 2024 budget, including an $834 million increase in direct school aid —8.42 percent more than last year's budgeted amount.

The state Department of Education released state school aid summaries for K-12 schools and preschools under that proposed budget on Thursday.

Murphy proposed an additional $834.4 million in state school aid in his 2024 budget, bringing the total in formula aid to $10.75 billion. Murphy also proposes an additional $109 million towards the state’s universal preschool program. Read more: Tax Relief, Debt Service, Transit Fare Freeze: 3 NJ Budget Takeaways

The Stafford Township School District had its state aid cut by 30.79 percent, representing a loss of $2.3 million. The total aid for the district is $5,300,798.

Meanwhile, the Southern Regional School District had a small gain of 10.29 percent ($367,264) for a total of $3,935,969 in aid.

Many other Ocean County districts received major cuts in state aid, with millions lost in Lacey, Jackson and Toms River.

Since the 2020-21 school year, the state has determined its annual distribution of education aid through S2 — a controversial funding formula passed in 2018, Murphy's first year in office.

The governor has defended S2, saying the funding formula had to change to address inequities within the state. But critics have pointed to the losses in state aid among many school districts, which has resulted in cuts while other districts get increases.

FY2024 would be the sixth of seven state budgets that S2 will impact, with the goal of fully funding education under the formula by 2025.

"We have seen this time and again," Director of the Ocean Board of Commissioners Joseph H.Vicari said. "Ocean County families are burdened with higher school taxes while nearly all of the state aid increases go to the cities."

Vicari called on state leaders to re-evaluate the formula used to calculate aid so this issue
can be avoided in the future.

When state school aid is cut the loss of revenue is either passed on to local taxpayers in
the form of higher tax bills or districts are forced to cut programs and staff. Usually the loss of
funding is mitigated by a combination of the two.

School made up 40.1 percent of Stafford's property taxes in 2022, according to recently released data. Read more: Latest Average Property Tax Bill In Barnegat-Manahawkin, Per New Data

This article contains additional reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson.