Livingston School Board OKs Staff Cuts, Tax Hike In New Budget

LIVINGSTON, NJ — The Livingston Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the 2026-2027 budget at their Tuesday meeting. The spending plan includes several cuts, in addition to a tax hike for property owners.

The final budget has seen some tweaks since district administrators gave a presentation in March, which can be viewed online here.

A total of 40 staff positions were previously slated to be eliminated: 11 teachers, 15 aides, eight support staff, four student support staff, and two administrators. The draft budget also included a 5.18 percent increase to the school portion of the average homeowner’s property taxes.

>> RELATED: Livingston Schools May Cut Dozens Of Jobs Under Proposed Budget

According to interim superintendent Daniel Fishbein, administrators have continued to hammer away at the budget since March.

The good news? Due to “better than estimated prescription renewal,” the district was able to put the kindergarten aide positions back into the budget, he reported Tuesday.

Fishbein said there isn’t a “budget shortfall” in Livingston, instead referring to this year’s financial crunch as a “gap” of revenue compared to expenses.

“We had to make some challenging cuts – but it had to do with day-to-day business practices,” he said.

The superintendent also assured attendees that there is no plan to discontinue the gifted and talented (G&T) program.

“We're only restructuring how the services are delivered to the students with the same program,” Fishbein said. “At the elementary school we have 24 interventionists. They will take over the role of G&T. So there's four in each building, and each one will take on a grade level.”

District administrators have been holding public workshops on the budget and sharing their answers to frequently asked questions from the community. See links to budget resources here, including the 2026-2027 budget book.

BRIDGING THE GAP

The Livingston Public School District gave some background about the budget in a newsletter on April 7.

Some highlights included:

The Challenge – “The biggest challenge this year is an unprecedented 33% increase in health insurance premiums for medical, dental, and prescription plans for staff. At the same time, the district’s state aid decreased by $49,237, even while many other districts in New Jersey saw their aid increase. These two factors created a significant gap because school expenses are growing much faster than the legal limit on how much the district can raise taxes.”

Cost Cutting – “To bridge the budget gap, the district has proposed reducing 40 staff positions. These cuts include Administrators and Teachers (11 teaching spots, such as gifted & talented and middle school roles, and two administrative positions), and Aides and Support (15 aides, four student support roles – like a nurse and social workers – and eight office/maintenance staff. To lessen the impact on our current team to the extent possible, the district has managed to handle 12 of these reductions through attrition, meaning they are simply not filling spots left by people who are retiring or leaving voluntarily. The district is also cutting costs by getting rid of software programs that were not being used much or that overlapped with other tools.”

According to administrators, the budget will also:

• Maintain all existing programs, including full-day kindergarten, 1:1 technology, and music lessons starting in 4th grade
• Keep sports and clubs at the middle and high schools
• Add new learning opportunities, such as new high school courses in AP Business, Ceramics 3, and a teaching pathway partnership
• Honor salary increases of 3.25% for staff as previously agreed upon

Livingston school administrators also shared details about the tax impact to local homeowners:

“The district is using a special ‘Health Care Waiver’ allowed by the state to help pay for the insurance spike, and they are also refinancing school bonds to lower the district's debt payments by over 21%. Even with those savings, there is a tax increase. For a home valued at the township average of $738,359, the school tax is estimated to increase $478 per year. Additionally, the annual technology fee for students will increase from $30 to $35.”

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. According to state data, the average Livingston resident paid $18,465 in taxes on a home valued at $729,727 in 2025 (not including credits and deductions). RELATED: Average Livingston Property Tax Tops $18K: See 5-Year Breakdown

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LIVINGSTON ISN’T ALONE

Livingston isn’t the only school district in Essex County that has faced a tough budget season this year.

Districts across the region – one of the most densely populated areas of New Jersey – have been struggling with sweeping austerity measures and mass layoffs as they hammer out their latest budgets. Hundreds of staff cuts are being planned, and local property taxes are still expected to rise.

Nearby districts that have seen budget cutbacks this year include Belleville, Bloomfield, Montclair, Newark, South Orange-Maplewood, and West Orange.

Some school administrators have been pointing their fingers at the state’s school funding formula for state aid, as well as the mandatory 2 percent state cap on tax increases, which they say aren’t keeping pace with inflation and the rising costs of running a school district.

Livingston’s superintendent added his voice to the chorus at this week’s school board meeting.

“The valuation of the town increases with the increase of development, and that means the taxes are spread over a higher valuation which impacts the taxpayer,” Fishbein said. “But the district doesn't get an increase in what we can raise our budget. Our budget is capped statutorily at 2 percent with some spending growth limitation adjustments in the area of enrollment and health care costs.”

• Related: Budget Meltdowns Slam Schools Across Essex County, Hundreds Of Jobs At Risk

Watch video footage from the Livingston Board of Education meeting on April 28 below, or view it online here.

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