Combining NJ School Districts Closer To Reality With New Bill

NEW JERSEY — Could New Jersey one day soon be consolidating more school districts?

The concept is definitely on the horizon, as last week Gov. Phil Murphy signed this Senate bill that provides funding for school districts to study consolidation.

The bill, which is now signed into law, specifically establishes a grant program to reimburse New Jersey districts for costs they incur doing "regionalization feasibility studies." The bill also gives financial incentives to school districts that choose regionalization.

There appears to be broad support for the idea of consolidating New Jersey's 599 school districts: The bill passed both houses of government unanimously, 77-0 in the state Assembly and 39-0 in the Senate.

And the bill had many sponsors from both parties. In the state Senate, it was sponsored by former Senate President Steve Sweeney and Monmouth-Ocean Sen. Vin Gopal, both Democrats. It was also sponsored by Republican state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon in Monmouth and Ocean County Republican Assemblyman Ronald Dancer, among others.

“New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the country, and is one of the top states in school spending per pupil,” said Dancer. “Residents need relief, and this may be one way to deliver that relief. This bill encourages school districts to study the benefits of regionalization, specifically countywide and K-12 regional districts.”

Those who back the idea say New Jersey simply has too many school districts: With 565 municipalities and about 600 school districts, it means taxpayers in tiny towns have to pay a school superintendent (and their pension) and other administrators, foot the bill for teacher salaries and health insurance and pay to maintain school buildings.

Those costs only go up, said supporters.

No school district would be required or forced to consider regionalization. However, the state will now dangle financial incentives to districts that choose to regionalize, such as lengthening adjustment aid cuts from every four years to every eight years. Districts that regionalize would also receive more state aid through 2028-29.

This may appear especially attractive to suburban school districts like Holmdel and Middletown that have lost millions in state aid in the past few years due to declining student enrollment.

New Jersey pays average cost of $22,816 per pupil according to the N.J. Department of Education Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending 2020. Only New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. pay more. The average NJ property tax bill also rose above $9,000 for the first time in 2020.

Also, having so many small school districts can also lead to unintentional segregation, as students in affluent, mostly white towns go to school in their towns.

New Jersey, with its many small towns and boroughs, has a long history of "home rule," with each town having its own fire department, police force and school district, no matter how tiny they might be. At one point, teeny Frenchtown in Hunterdon County had three police officers on the force. Many of these smaller departments have since consolidated with the county.

One example of a regional school district is the South Hunterdon Regional School District, formed in 2014. It merged the towns of Lambertville, West Amwell and Stockton into one school district.

"The Legislature has made substantive changes to the regionalization statutes to attempt to encourage the creation of regional school districts in New Jersey," wrote the New Jersey School Boards Association in this blog post, which backs consolidation. "But since 1993, only one regional district has been created. Why haven’t more districts regionalized in the last quarter century?"

The new law creates a grant reimbursement program through the Department of Community Affairs. Participation is voluntary. Interested school districts that meet certain criteria would apply for grants; the department would front half the grant money and disburse the other half once the study is accepted by the department. Regionalization studies can range in price from $20,000 to $150,000.

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