Final Budget Deal Strips $1.4M In Aid From Toms River Schools

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River school district officials will be forced to take another look at programs and plans for the 2017-18 school year now that the state budget is in place, as the district will receive nearly $1.4 million less than it was expecting in state funding.

The school funding deal reached last week between Gov. Chris Christie, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto softened the impact of the initally proposed $46 million plan by Sweeney and Prieto to redirect aid from some districts, including Toms River, to other districts around the state that are deemed underfunded.

The deal with Christie redirects $31 million in aid, with the aid reductions based on 2 percent of the district's budget; the Sweeney-Prieto deal had planned to redirect 1.5 percent of the aid the district was to receive. In Toms River, the initial cut was projected at $3.3 million.

Townsquare Media reported the deal and the details of the aid changes last week; the Asbury Park Press, in a report giving an overview of what the new budget contains, confirmed the finalized deal includes the $31 million in redirected school funding.

Toms River Regional was one of 10 districts seeing cutbacks of $1 million or more in state aid under the initial Sweeney-Prieto plan, cutbacks announced two weeks before the new school budget year was to begin. The Brick Township School District was initially supposed to see a cut of nearly $2.2 million, but that cut has been reduced to $720,000. The Middletown Township School District in Monmouth County was scheduled to see its aid cut by $1.18 million; it will lose $356,772 under the budget Christie signed. A total of 126 districts will have their state aid reduced under the new budget.

READ MORE: 5 Things To Know About The State School Funding Cuts For Toms River

School budgets for the 2017-18 school year had to be completed by the end of April, and across the state districts prepared and approved budgets based on advice from the state Department of Education to prepare for state funding levels that were expected to be unchanged from last year.

School funding and the state aid formula have been a battleground for years in New Jersey; in 2010, districts across the state saw their aid slashed significantly. Christie's initial 2017 budget proposal drew criticisms over funding levels and prompted him to give state legislators 100 days to come up with a solution that he would find acceptable. Days after the 100-day deadline expired, Sweeney and Prieto announced their plan.

That plan includes an additional $100 million in school funding for severely underfunded districts, along with an additional $25 million for pre-K programs and $25 million for special needs education.

While some 370 districts will be receiving increases in aid, it's the $31 million in aid that's being taken from districts at the last minute, including Brick and Toms River, that sparked protests from local officials and school officials across the state.

The cutbacks are coming to so-called "adjustment aid" that some districts received under the School Funding Reform Act.

READ MORE: Proposed $3.3M Toms River School Funding Cut Would Be Devastating: Officials

In a commentary published in the Asbury Park Press on June 25, Sweeney defended the cuts to Brick and Toms River, saying declining enrollment in the districts was the reasoning behind slashing their aid. But Toms River officials have pointed out that for many districts, including Toms River and Brick, the aid they have been receiving from the state has been below fully funded levels since the School Funding Reform Act went into effect in 2009.

Brick and Toms River school officials, along with local politicians, also have pointed out that the two districts are still recovering from the ravages of Superstorm Sandy; Toms River Superintendent David Healy, at a joint press conference with Brick officials and 10th District Sen. Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and Dave Wolfe, said Toms River alone still has more than $600 million in ratables that have not returned to the property tax rolls.

Toms River school district officials already had cut 17 positions in the 2017-18 budget, including security guards and a guidance counselor. In a letter to the editor published on the Patch, the board and district said they have been careful with the district's spending; Toms River's per-pupil spending is nearly $2,000 less than the state average.

Where and how the district will cut $1,366,845 is anyone's guess, but it will have to happen quickly. It will not be added to the property tax levy because those numbers have been finalized already. Property taxes could go up for the 2018-19 school year if a similar cut is implemented for next year — a possibility under the Sweeney-Prieto plan.

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