Edison BOE Approves Budget With 6% Tax Hike, Cuts 80 Positions, Eliminates Pre-K

EDISON, NJ - The Edison Township Board of Education voted 5-3 Tuesday to approve a revised $358 million budget for the 2026-2027 school year that cuts approximately 80 staff positions, eliminates the district's grant-funded pre-K program and raises the local tax levy by 6 percent — half of the 12 percent increase the board had initially proposed.

The budget passed after weeks of public backlash, town halls and community petitions that followed the board's proposed budget in March of a $372 million spending plan. Mayor Sam Joshi had publicly condemned that proposal as "reckless and irresponsible," though he acknowledged his office has no jurisdiction over the independently elected school board.

The revised plan carries a total operating budget of $352,368,650 and a total budget, including grants, of $358,269,420. The local tax levy is set at $249,113,958. For the average Edison homeowner, Business Administrator Jonathan Toth said the increase amounts to $183 through the end of calendar year 2026 — pushing the average school tax bill from $5,804 to $5,987. The school tax rate moves from 3.14 to 3.20 per $100 of assessed value, based on an average assessed home value of $186,900.

"These reductions do not come with easy choices," Superintendent Edward Aldarelli said. "To achieve this revised budget, the district had to make a series of program and operational adjustments, the most significant being staffing reductions in approximately 80 positions."

Those reductions span teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, central office and support staff, and include retirements that will not be filled, resignations that will not be replaced and direct eliminations. The district is also cutting subscription bussing and reducing field trips, and has postponed previously planned playground improvements at several elementary schools. An air conditioning upgrade for aging band equipment at some middle schools — some of which dates to the 1970s — was also shelved.

Aldarelli said the goal throughout was to protect classroom instruction, extracurricular programs and sports. "We tried to do this through a guided commitment to fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers here in Edison Township," he said.

Salaries account for $199,054,361 of the operating budget and benefits another $56,963,126 — together representing roughly 71 percent of total spending. Other significant line items include transportation at $17,717,900, special education at $22,374,677 and capital lease and outlay at $20,589,921.

Toth laid out the financial forces that drove the crisis. The district absorbed a $6 million cumulative hit from state aid cuts over two years, $11 million less in available surplus revenue, a $3.5 million increase in pre-K funding obligations and $7 million in contractual costs covering salaries, health benefits, out-of-district tuition and transportation. Edison is slated to receive $88.8 million in state aid for 2026-27, a reduction of $2.7 million, or 3%, from the current year — the second consecutive year of cuts.

Toth also flagged a longer-term structural problem. Even with the 6 percent tax levy increase, he said, the district is collecting $249 million against a calculated local fair share obligation of approximately $305 million — a $55 million shortfall. The state, meanwhile, considers Edison overfunded on equalization aid. "This problem is not going to go away," Toth said. "We're going to be seeing this probably next year and years after."

Board President Vishal Patel thanked board members for the weeks of work that went into revising the plan and called on colleagues to keep students at the center of the vote. "I believe this budget protects core instruction, classroom instruction, while ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the district," Patel said.

The vote was 5-3, with board member Virginia White voted no, citing the staff cuts and program reductions. "The reason why I'm voting no is because of the staff reductions — that bothers me terribly — and some of the program cuts," White said.

Edison has not raised school taxes in five consecutive years prior to this budget cycle. Critics argued that streak, while politically popular, left the district financially vulnerable and directly contributed to state aid reductions by signaling the district did not need the funding.

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