Middletown, Hazlet Schools Lose (Again) In State Aid Formula

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Middletown school district just cannot catch a break from Trenton, as the district saw a reduction in state aid funding for yet another year.

The budget numbers for the upcoming 2020-21 school year were released Thursday by Gov. Phil Murphy's administration. Both Middletown and Hazlet public schools will be getting less money from Trenton for the upcoming school year than they did this year.

Middletown schools will see a five percent reduction, getting $16.6 million this year and $15.7 million for 2020-21. Middletown schools are already battling state aid cuts and dwindling enrollment; just this month the district announced it will have to close Port Monmouth Elementary as a result. All Port Monmouth students will be moved into New Monmouth Elementary by September 2020. Currently, there is one section of second grade and one section of third grade at Port Monmouth.

Hazlet public schools will see an eight percent loss in funding, having received $12 million this year from Trenton, which will drop to $11 million in 2020-21 (numbers not exact).

Interestingly, Holmdel public schools saw a 17 percent increase in state aid, getting $2.5 million this year and $3.03 million next year.

Many towns across New Jersey saw a reduction with Thursday's numbers: 193 school districts saw a decrease under Murphy's school funding plan, and they may need to raise property taxes to make up the differences. Read: These 193-Plus Districts May Face Tax Hike: NJ School Aid Figures

And yet the budget numbers gave 371 school districts an increase in aid. The aid calculations are based on enrollment, student needs, and local fiscal capacity as measured by equalized property valuation and income, said Michael Yaple, a spokesman with the New Jersey Department of Education.

"The state’s current school-funding formula, the School Funding Reform Act, was enacted in 2008. However, for years New Jersey never followed the funding formula. Some districts were overfunded, while in other communities the state funding never kept pace with factors such as rapidly growing student enrollment," he explained. "Then a law enacted in 2018 aimed to eliminate years of funding inequities that built up over time. The law, which will phase in realigned funding levels over seven-year period, is designed to place all districts on the path to full funding, in which all school districts will be funded based on student enrollment and community factors as envisioned in the state’s school-funding formula."

State aid for public school districts weighs heavily in many district's decisions on raising local property taxes, which in New Jersey are already the highest in the nation.

Since he first took office, Murphy's administration has taken heat for state aid cuts to hundreds of public school districts, most notably in Ocean and Monmouth county towns such as Toms River and Middletown.