Freehold, Red Bank Superintendents Urge Senate To Correct Funding Issues

NEWARK, NJ — The superintendents of the Red Bank and Freehold Borough school districts told state senators on Tuesday that receiving their fair share of state aid is critical to preparing students, particularly the at-risk ones, for successful futures.

“Our goal is that when our students move on to their regional high schools, where they will sit side-by-side with their more affluent peers, that they will be competitive with their skills and will be confident of their worth," said Rocco Tomazic, superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District.

“Because we have been denied our fair share of available state aid, both of our districts are understaffed in teachers, overcrowded in classrooms, and filled with mostly at-risk students being denied proper educational support," Red Bank Superintendent Jared Rumage said.

The two superintendents, along with town officials and parents from their districts spoke before the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee during its public hearing to support proportional and equitable funding in state aid for their districts.

“We have over 100 underfunded school districts that have seen significant enrollment growth without a corresponding state school aid increase, leading to substantial educational challenges.” said state Sen. Jennifer Beck, whose district includes Red Bank and Freehold. “At the same time, approximately 200 school districts that are more than 10 percent above the funding standard continue to receive more state aid despite enrollment loss. This school funding disparity is a critical issue that the Legislature must address to protect both students and property taxpayers.”

For the 2016-2017 school year, Freehold Borough Schools were 572 students over capacity and funded 38 percent below adequacy, while Red Bank has had 22.9 percent enrollment growth over the past seven years, and is funded 34 percent below adequacy, Beck said.

Both districts have a student body where more than 75 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch, officials have said. Rumage and Tomazic are working with school districts throughout the state, including Monroe Township, Newton, Kingsway Regional, Chesterfield and Delran, to push for change in the 2017-18 distribution of state aid and full funding under the law.

“This issue is larger than just Red Bank and Freehold Borough. With approximately 140 school districts more than 10 percent below adequacy we must address the funding formula to ensure that districts with triple-digit enrollment growth don’t receive less funding than those losing enrollment,” Beck said.

Gov. Chris Christie's preliminary budget included state aid figures that for the vast majority of school districts would remain at the level of the 2016-17 school aid figures. For Freehold Borough, that amounts to $9.7 million, and for Red Bank it's just over $3 million. Christie also has challenged state legislators to come up with a solution in 100 days, officials said in news releases.

In a joint news release, Tomazic and Rumage said their speeches are "part of a larger movement across the state to motivate the Department of Education, the governor and the Legislature to ensure a fair distribution of state aid."

“During my recent years on the board, it has seemed near-miraculous what we have accomplished despite, by the state Department of Education’s own admission, being a deeply underfunded district," said Frederick Stone, president of the Red Bank Borough Board of Education. "I profoundly fear our progress and accomplishment are not sustainable unless school aid is more equitably distributed to account for the challenges facing so many of our students.”

"Righting this wrong takes no additional money," Tomazic said. "It only takes the will of state authority to ensure basic fairness in the distribution of state aid."

"Clearly both our districts need help, and we need it with this coming school year," Rumage said. "We ask you, the budget committee, to ask the hard questions of those who are responsible for this situation, and to take on the difficult leadership role to turn this situation around. Our students are depending on you."

Freehold Borough Superintendent Rocco Tomazic and Red Bank Borough Superintendent Jared Rumage testify before the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Tuesday. Photo via Tomazic's Twitter account