$2.8M Aid Not Enough To Offset Budget Deficit In South Brunswick Schools: officials

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The state recently said that South Brunswick School District will receive additional funds to make up for budget shortfalls and reduced state aid.

The state Department of Education announced $2,890,780 in stabilization aid to South Brunswick schools.

Although this amount will help the school district, it’s not enough to offset the $40 million budget deficit it is facing, officials explained.

During the Board of Education meeting last week, School Business Administrator David Pawlowski explained to the community that the district has been placed in a financially tight spot due to the state's S2 funding formula.

“We are never going to say we are not happy and thrilled to receive under $3 million dollars from the state of New Jersey. I do want to just reiterate that with S2 in the state of New Jersey reducing our state aid year after year by millions, we were looking at a $40 million deficit,” Pawlowski said.

In 2018, NJ passed a law – S2 - that modified how the state determines to allocate funding for each school district. This state-aid formula has been controversial and FY2023 would be the fifth of seven state budgets that S2 will impact.

Gov. Phil Murphy has defended S2, saying the funding formula had to change to address inequities within the state. However, critics pointed to the losses in state aid among many school districts, which has sometimes resulted in cuts. And South Brunswick would be a good example of that.

The $2.8 million for South Brunswick will help the district dramatically, but it is only a one-time aid that isn't guaranteed every year, Pawlowski explained.

“So, when you talk about running an organization, and you think about getting $3 million, if it's sustainable money that we know is going to come in year after year, we could do things like hire people and know that we'll have that funding to pay for people salaries,” Pawlowski said.

“South Brunswick is still in a little bit of a dire situation when it comes to the budget and financial stability.”

The Business Administrator criticized the state’s funding formula saying it “wasn’t great” and that it was interesting to see how the NJ determined who gets what. More: 2022 NJ School Aid: Who's Getting More, Who's Getting Less

Having understood that that district would face budget cuts, South Brunswick Schools shifted to a “revenue generating model” to help with the deficit.

“Everybody in my office looks to generate either savings or revenue through grants, through working with FEMA, through extraordinary aid,” Pawlowski explained.

“We have our health centers, another revenue generator, that's going to kick into gear next year. Everybody in my office is looking for ways to save money or generate revenue for the district, because of this S2 funding situation that we find ourselves in.”

Despite the cut in aid, the South Brunswick School District has not dramatically changed any of its education programs for students, Pawlowski noted.

“We've improved those programs over the course of the past five years while seeing our budget dramatically cut,” he said.

Superintendent Scott Feder pointed out that although the money was good, it was nowhere near offsetting the budget deficit. “We will use the $3 million and it will hopefully delay some reductions in programming that we were expecting to face for next year,” Feder said.

It’s important to note that State aid is an influential factor in a district's decisions on raising local property taxes. Many districts facing cuts said that aid cuts or flat spending each year give them cause to raise what are already the highest property taxes in the country. But in 2021, the township saw its taxes decrease. More: South Brunswick's Average Property Tax Bill Decreases Slightly

With the district placed in a tight spot due to aid cuts, South Brunswick Schools formed a budget committee to help them manage their fiscal situation. More: South Brunswick Schools To Form Committee To Help Navigate Budget Cuts

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