State Aid Numbers Announced For Haddonfield, Haddon Schools

New Jersey state aid numbers for the 2020-21 school year have been announced. Locally, one district will see a cut, while the other will see an increase of more than 15 percent.

The Haddon Township Public School District will see a decrease of 1.47 percent in state aid from last year, according to Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. The Haddonfield Public School District will see an increase of 15.67 percent.

Haddon Township will receive a total of $8,088,359 in state aid for the 2020-21 school year. The decrease comes out to $120,365. Haddonfield will receive $1,949,720, up $264,146 from last year.

The percentages are similar to what was proposed last year, although both districts did get an increase at that time. Haddon Township saw a slight 0.12 percent increase, while Haddonfield's increase was 11.71 percent. Read more here: State Aid Increases For Haddonfield, Haddon School Districts

State aid weighs heavily in many district's decisions on raising local property taxes. Many often say that aid cuts or flat spending from year-to-year gives them cause to raise what are already the highest property taxes in the nation.

Some districts saw double-digit increases, including Woodbridge (28.78 percent) and North Caldwell (19.88 percent). The biggest losers happened to be in areas where Murphy may not be so popular, such Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Overall, state aid would increase 3.8 over the 2019-20 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be larger than the 2.43 percent increase Murphy proposed last year.

Murphy, whose administration has taken heat for state aid cuts to hundreds of schools, also proposed a one-time $50 million burst in aid to stabilize school finances without cutting vital student programs.

An additional $336.5 million in K-12 aid and $83 million for preschool in the governor's budget plan marks an increase of over a billion dollars in state aid for schools since the beginning of the administration, he said.

In his budget remarks on Tuesday, Murphy said the investments in school funding continue to tackle the root-cause of New Jersey's high property taxes.

"The budget proposal unveiled on Tuesday furthers my administration's commitment to level the playing field across New Jersey's public education system, ensuring that all students have access to a high quality, world-class education," Murphy said. "Every dollar spent to maintain our position as the national leader in education makes New Jersey more affordable for communities, like Bound Brook, who deserve much-needed property tax relief."

The governor is proposing an increase of nearly $83 million for preschool funding, for a total of $889.2 million in the FY2021 budget proposal. The increase consists of $58 million for existing programs and $25 million for the expansion of new preschool programs. The new preschool funding is in addition to and separate from the nearly $337 million in additional K-12 school aid, or "formula aid."

The FY2021 budget proposal also continues the seven-year phase-in to full funding of the school funding formula. That law, S2, was designed to address inequities that resulted from the multiple years of overfunding some districts while "failing to adequately meet the needs of other growing districts," officials said.

See related: These 193-Plus Districts May Face Tax Hike: NJ School Aid Figures