Brick Schools Introduce Budget, Continue State Aid Fight

BRICK, NJ — The fight over state school funding is continuing, even as the Brick Township Board of Education introduced the district's tentative budget last week with an increase in the tax levy.

The preliminary figures include a $2.9 million increase in the tax levy — almost the same amount that's being cut by the New Jersey legislature in state aid to the district. The Murphy administration announced preliminary state aid figures for school districts for the 2019-2020 school year shortly after his budget address on March 5. Brick Township is scheduled to receive $2.7 million less.

The cut is part of S2, the law pushed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney that cuts so-called adjustment aid that was distributed to school districts under the 2010 School Funding Reform Act. Sweeney's contention is those districts receiving the adjustment aid are being overfunded and not paying their fair share of property taxes to support their school districts.

State budget hearings are under way this week and next week, and Brick Township Superintendent Gerald Dalton said he will be headed to Trenton next week to testify about the damage these cuts are doing to schools that have sought to control their spending over the years.

Brick's tentative budget for 2019-2020 is $155,411,897, with a tentative tax levy of $112,085,860. The overall budget is up slightly — $265,771 —from the 2018-19 tentative budget, which was proposed at $155,146,126, with a tax levy of $109,258,129.

The increase in the tax levy is mandated as part of S2, which requires school districts that are under adequacy — meaning they spend less per student than what the state says is necessary to meet the constitutional requirement for a thorough and efficient education — must also increase their property tax levy by 2 percent, which is the cap placed on tax levy increases under Gov. Chris Christie.

Brick Township spends about $2,000 less per student than the state average and the adequacy figure.

Dalton said he and Business Administrator James Edwards have been meeting with legislators and representatives of other districts as Brick fights the cuts, both through legislative channels and through a lawsuit Brick filed against the state Department of Education in January over the way it distributes aid. The Toms River Regional School District and at least seven other districts, including Jackson, Lacey Township and Middletown, have joined the lawsuit.

Dalton said he, Edwards, Toms River Superintendent David Healy and Toms River Business Administrator William Doering have met with members of Gov. Phil Murphy's staff and dug into the details of the funding issues and how the aid cuts are damaging communities. Brick school officials have estimated the district will cumulatively lose $44 million over six years.

The cuts, if they go through, will have serious impacts on Brick's schools, including job cuts, increased class sizes, the potential for elimination of or fee-based extracurricular activities and sports, and program cuts.

The hearings in Trenton are open to the public; you must register if you want to speak. There are hearings Thursday, March 21, Wednesday, March 27, and Thursday, March 28. Click here for information on how to register.

The NJ Assembly budget hearing is at the State Annex on March 27, starting at 9:30 a.m. The Senate budget hearings will be March 21 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Campus Center Atrium, 150 Bleeker Street, Newark, NJ 07102, and March 28 at Salem Community College, 460 Hollywood Avenue, Carneys Point, NJ 08069. Those hearings start at 10 a.m.

If you're unable to attend or are uncomfortable speaking in public but want to make your voice heard, you can submit written testimony regarding the cuts to the Legislative Budget and Finance Office. Written testimony should include your name, address, phone number and email address. Written testimony submitted to the committee will be made public on the internet and become a part of the permanent record. Personal contact information will not be made public.

You can email it to lbfo@njleg.org or mail your testimony to the Legislative Budget and Finance Office, State House Annex, PO Box 068, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0068.

"If you'd like to go, we still have T-shirts and signs from the March on Trenton and we'll be happy to supply them," Dalton said during the board meeting. The T-shirts that he and others wore were donated, Dalton said.

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