Hillsborough Is 'Still Fighting For Scraps At The Table' Over School Funding

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough continues to be the only school district in Somerset County to lose funding year after year despite a new state funding deal reached earlier this month.

"We are still fighting for the scraps at the table. I am so thankful for everybody who worked toward this but the numbers there still show a clear picture," said Superintendent Michael Volpe at the Monday night Board of Education meeting. "Every other school district in Somerset County is going up and Hillsborough is still going down. I will continue to advocate until we get fair funding here for Hillsborough."

Hillsborough Township School District was initially set to lose $913,106 in state aid under the S2 funding formula. However, on March 16, a new $102 million deal was reached proposing to restore 66 percent of the funding that was set to be cut to 150 schools in the state.

For Hillsborough, that means $602,650 less to be cut. However, even under the deal, the township school district will still lose $310,456 in state aid. Read More: Hillsborough Schools May Still Lose $310K Under New State Funding Deal

Volpe warned that while a deal was reached, the district is unaware of when they will see the impact.

"As of right now, the state has not told us how or when they are allocating those funds to us. It's not like it passed and all of a sudden we have the money. There is still a process. So there is a chance on April 24 we may be putting forth a budget that is still being reduced by that $913,000. Hopefully not. Hopefully, the state is able to process the money... the lesser amount we are losing," said Volpe.

Separate Proposals

Along with the 2023-24 school budget update, Volpe spoke about the district's intentions of having two referendum questions on the November ballot to:

1. Create a security department - this would add 1 building monitor at every school and 1 person in charge of all school safety and security efforts in the district for a cost of $934,636
2. Increase School Staff - add 20 teachers for a cost $1.9 million.

"Over the last several years we have lost dozens of positions due to state aid cuts. We haven’t been able to provide the same services to students over time as we have for others," said Volpe at the March 13 BOE meeting. "We have to find a way to build back Hillsborough. And one way we can do that is by increasing our school staff."

"What kind of school district do we want to be? Do we want to be a minimally compliant school district where yes we check the boxes for what the state tells us to do or do we want to provide an outstanding education where our students feel safe and comfortable at all times?" said Volpe on March 13.

If both questions passed, Volpe noted taxes would still go down for Hillsborough and Millstone residents.

After the final budget is passed in April, Volpe said he will issue weekly updates on the two proposals to give voters a clear picture and possible impacts.

Watch the discussion on the proposals below. (It begins around 21:10):

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