New Providence, Berkeley Heights Schools To Get More State Aid

NEW PROVIDENCE/BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ — New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside schools can all expect to see a hefty increase in their state aid for the 2019-20 school year.

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration this week released the proposed state aid numbers for every school district in the 2019-20 school year.

New Providence is expected to see an 11.38 percent increase in state aid. This means the district would receive a total of $1,609,620 or $164,505 more in state aid.

Berkeley Heights is expected to see an 10.5 percent increase in state aid. This means the district would receive a total of $1,728,031 or $164,265 more in state aid.

Mountainside is expected to see an 10.24 percent increase in state aid. This means the district would receive a total of $841,306 or $78,135 more in state aid.

Efforts to obtain comment about the proposed aid were not immediately successful.

Linden received the highest increase in aid in the county with 13.45 percent.

Kenilworth received the least with a decrease of .77 percent. Winfield and Kenilworth were the only Union County school districts to get a decrease.

Overall, state aid would increase 2.43 over the 2018-19 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be smaller than the 3.5 percent increase Murphy originally proposed last year, but that original plan had no state aid cuts for any district.

Here is a list of nearby Union County districts to compare. They are listed from the highest amount of aid to least. (The first number is the percentage decrease or increase in aid; the second is the amount of aid; the third is the loss or gain in aid dollars):

1. Linden City, Union 13.45% $30,940,458 $3,668,890
2. Westfield Town, Union 11.82% $4,281,274 $452,693
3. Scotch Plains-Fanwood Reg, Union 11.41% $4,007,387 $410,448
4. New Providence Boro, Union 11.38% $1,609,620 $164,505
5. Clark Twp, Union 11.21% $1,432,981 $144,501
6. Summit City, Union 10.91% $2,567,656 $252,592
7. Berkeley Heights Twp, Union 10.50% $1,728,031 $164,265
8. Union County Vocational, Union 10.37% $10,434,205 $980,730
9. Mountainside Boro, Union 10.24% $841,306 $78,135
10. Roselle Boro, Union 9.30% $27,929,041 $2,376,206
11. Rahway City, Union 8.09% $24,284,880 $1,817,589
12. Cranford Twp, Union 8.24% $2,841,003 $216,159
13. Springfield Twp, Union 7.27% $2,087,986 $141,431
14. Roselle Park Boro, Union 7.18% $12,337,582 $826,014
15. Plainfield City, Union 6.50% $140,835,732 $8,594,435
16. Hillside Twp, Union 6.22% $24,537,481 $1,436,490
17. Elizabeth City, Union 3.88% $405,669,746 $15,136,244
18. Garwood Boro, Union 3.87% $523,974 $19,529
19. Union Twp, Union 1.02% $33,018,480 $334,220
20. Winfield Twp, Union -0.57% $1,797,491 -$10,308
21. Kenilworth Boro, Union -0.77% $6,324,971 -$48,875

Click here to view the full state-wide list.

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