State Withholds $2.2 Million from SOMA School District

As part of a fiscal "state of emergency" executive order signed by Governor Chris Christie yesterday, the State of New Jersey is withholding $2,221,578 from the South Orange Maplewood School District.

Statewide, more than $475 million in State aid to schools has been frozen. This is part of an effort on the part of the Governor to close a $1.3 billion State budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending in July. The effort also includes a $33 million cut in spending to NJTransit that could affect ticket prices and train frequency—trends that could adversely impact Maplewood and South Orange's many train commuters.

As noted on maplewoodian.com, the South Orange Maplewood School District receives a much smaller percentage of state aid than the state average (about 8% as compared to 41%). Maplewoodian (aka Joe Strupp) feels that this is due to the disproportionate amount of State funding for Abbott districts—often large urban, distressed districts with chronically low-scoring students.

Likewise, a look at the State cuts shows that districts such as South Orange Maplewood are getting a larger percentage of their aid cut. For instance, total state aid to our school district is $6.677 million and the total withheld is $2.221 million (about a third of our State aid). In Plainfield, total State aid to the school district is $102.7 million but the total withholding is $948,909 (less than 1%).

In essence, it would seem that the South Orange Maplewood School District is being penalized for running a tight ship and accumulating surplus (the State is applying that surplus to State aid). South Orange Maplewood is listed by the State as having total surplus of about $4.4 million while Plainfield has only $2.7 million.

South Orange Maplewood School District Superintendent Brian Osborne is attending an education conference today and could not be reached for comment.