Schools
Bernards Township Schools Will Get Less State Aid For 2025-26
On Thursday, the state Department of Education released the 2025-26 state funding figures, showing how $12.1 billion will support schools.
BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bad news for Bernards Township Schools as the district is expected to get $247,891 less than last year in school aid from New Jersey as part of the latest state budget proposal.
For the fiscal year 2025, Bernards Township schools received $8,015,127; next year, the district is slated to receive $8,263,018. This is a 3 percent decrease.
"It is disappointing, but based on the memo issued by the State earlier this year, the 3% reduction is not unexpected, "said Bernards Township Superintendent Nick Markarian.
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Gov. Phil Murphy's 2025-26 proposed budget is a record $58.1 billion that includes $12.1 billion for school funding, part of what he said is his administration's "ongoing and unrelenting commitment to building a New Jersey that is stronger, fairer, and more prepared for the future."
On Thursday, the state Department of Education released the 2025-26 state funding figures, showing how that $12.1 billion will support the state's K-12 schools. There are 392 districts slated to receive increased funding, 175 seeing funding cuts and seven districts whose aid amount is the same as 2024-25. Read More: See Which NJ Schools Will Get More State Aid For 2025-26
Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Bernards Township is not the only school district to lose funding in Somerset County. Eight other districts lost funding this coming year out of the 18 districts in the county.
See below for a district-by-district breakdown of state school funding for Somerset County for the fiscal year 2026:
| District | FY26 K–12 Aid | FY25–FY26 K–12 Aid Difference | Aid Percent Difference |
| Bedminster Twp | $1,204,023 | -$37,238 | -3% |
| Bernards Twp | $8,015,127 | -$247,891 | -3% |
| Bound Brook Boro | $37,049,587 | $2,095,174 | 5.99% |
| Branchburg Twp | $3,965,479 | $224,461 | 6% |
| Bridgewater-Raritan Reg | $15,062,043 | $349,130 | 2.37% |
| Franklin Twp | $20,485,587 | -$633,575 | -3% |
| Green Brook Twp | $1,897,532 | -$45,133 | -2.32% |
| Hillsborough Twp | $17,378,094 | -$535,930 | -2.99% |
| Manville Boro | $27,344,266 | $451,149 | 1.68% |
| Montgomery Twp | $8,276,701 | -$255,980 | -3% |
| North Plainfield Boro | $71,569,148 | $3,246,280 | 4.75% |
| Somerset Co Vocational | $1,428,562 | 0 | 0% |
| Somerset Hills Regional | $2,589,027 | $146,549 | 6% |
| Somerville Boro | $9,742,574 | -$301,317 | -3% |
| South Bound Brook | $6,994,368 | $395,907 | 6% |
| Warren Twp | $3,332,913 | $188,656 | 6% |
| Watchung Boro | $1,286,213 | $-39,780 | -3% |
| Watchung Hills Regional | $2,708,537 | $135,256 | 5.26% |
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