Cranford Schools Receive Additional State Aid For 2022-2023 Year

CRANFORD, NJ — At Tuesday night's Cranford Board of Education meeting, the district announced it received additional state aid that will benefit its budget for the 2022-2023 school year.

Business Administrator Robert Carfagno said the district received an additional $587K in state aid. However, most of this money must be allocated to satisfy the district's obligation to meet its health benefit savings responsibility of $464K, which must also be applied directly to taxpayer relief.

Therefore, the district will ultimately receive an additional $123K in state aid for next year's budget, according to an announcement from Superintendent Scott Rubin.

Rubin wrote that the money will be used toward adding one and one-half "Math Achieve" teachers at the middle school level to help improve student achievement.

"Specifically, these positions will assist students with specific mathematics deficiencies to quickly get them on grade level," Rubin wrote. "The District already established similar positions at the K-5 level and it is having a huge impact on student achievement and student self-esteem and now we are excited to extend this support through the middle school levels."

The allocation of state aid to the district's health benefit savings fund is part of a measure that Gov. Phil signed into law on July 1, 2020 that overhauls health benefits plans offered to school employees.

The law, "Chapter 44," applies to boards of education participating in the School Employee Health Benefits Program, as well as non-participating districts. It was passed with the goal of reducing costs for districts and employees by encouraging a shift to lower-cost insurance plans and re-establishing cost-sharing requirements.

More updates from the district can be found on the Cranford Schools website.

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.

Get a free morning newsletter with news in Cranford or another town: https://patch.com/subscribe