Moorestown Schools To See More State Aid As Budget Talks Continue

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The Moorestown Public School District will see a 9.32 percent increase in state aid over last year, according to numbers recently released by the state.

The district will receive a total of $4,123,776 in state aid for the 2020-21 school year, according to Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. The increase comes out to $351,641.

School officials began discussing this year’s budget at the Feb. 18 Board of Education meeting. At that time, Business Administrator James Heiser said state funding has increased for the district the last couple of years. Read more here: Moorestown Schools $2.4M Over Budget As Work Continues

"The plan seems to be to adjust for enrollment. Our enrollment is growing," Heiser said.

The district's overall enrollment is up by one, from 3,978 students at this time last year to 3,979 students currently in the district, according to numbers provided at the board meeting.

It is expected to continue to grow as the township continues to build in order to meet its affordable housing obligations. Read more here: Superintendent Talks Population Growth At Bond Referendum Forum

Overall, state aid would increase 3.8 over the 2019-20 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be larger than the 2.43 percent increase Murphy proposed last year.

Murphy, whose administration has taken heat for state aid cuts to hundreds of schools, also proposed a one-time $50 million burst in aid to stabilize school finances without cutting vital student programs.

An additional $336.5 million in K-12 aid and $83 million for preschool in the governor's budget plan marks an increase of over a billion dollars in state aid for schools since the beginning of the administration, he said.

In his budget remarks on Tuesday, Murphy said the investments in school funding continue to tackle the root-cause of New Jersey's high property taxes.

"The budget proposal unveiled on Tuesday furthers my administration's commitment to level the playing field across New Jersey's public education system, ensuring that all students have access to a high quality, world-class education," Murphy said. "Every dollar spent to maintain our position as the national leader in education makes New Jersey more affordable for communities, like Bound Brook, who deserve much-needed property tax relief."

The governor is proposing an increase of nearly $83 million for preschool funding, for a total of $889.2 million in the FY2021 budget proposal. The increase consists of $58 million for existing programs and $25 million for the expansion of new preschool programs. The new preschool funding is in addition to and separate from the nearly $337 million in additional K-12 school aid, or "formula aid."

The FY2021 budget proposal also continues the seven-year phase-in to full funding of the school funding formula. That law, S2, was designed to address inequities that resulted from the multiple years of overfunding some districts while "failing to adequately meet the needs of other growing districts," officials said.

See related: These 193-Plus Districts May Face Tax Hike: NJ School Aid Figures