School Aid Cuts Will Lead to Delinquent Teens: Ocean Prosecutor

TOMS RIVER, NJ — For law enforcement, a kid with nothing to do is a kid with the potential to get into trouble. And it is that concern that led Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer to weigh in on the current fight over state aid cuts that the Toms River Regional School District is waging.

Toms River is among nearly 200 districts that are losing aid under the changes mandated in S2, the legislation passed last year that also is pushing aid to chronically underfunded school districts.

The aid cuts to Toms River are the result of the contention by some in state government that the regional school district is receiving more than its fair share of aid while not paying its fair share of property taxes. The district will lose an estimate $83 million over six years under the mandates of S2, while being forced by that same law to raise property taxes.

Toms River school district officials have said the loss in aid will force the district to cut at least 400 jobs and severely reduce or eliminate afterschool activities, clubs and athletics programs.

The neighboring Brick Township and Jackson Township school districts are facing similarly damaging cuts.

Billhimer on Wednesday sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, state Sen. Stephen Sweeney and other goverment leaders urging them to rethink the drastic aid cuts. Toms River has cut 77 positions (according to the updated figure released Tuesday by the district) from the 2019-2020 budget that was approved on Tuesday and sent to the Ocean County executive superintendent for approval.

In his letter (you can read it in full below), Billhimer notes the potential activities and athletics cuts "from a law enforcement perspective ... are of particular concern,"

"Approximately 13,000 students in Toms River Schools participate in extracurricular activities and/or athletic programs. For these students, their day does not end in the early afternoon," Billhimer wrote. "The research is very clear that after school hours tend to be the most generative time for juvenile delinquency and problem behaviors. In fact, during the school week, studies show that juvenile crime peaks between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The importance of after-school extracurricular activities and athletic programs cannot be understated."

Billhimer also expressed concerns about the cutbacks in connection with the ongoing opioid epidemic in Ocean County and the state at large.

"We are, collectively, ground zero for the opioid epidemic in New Jersey," Billhimer said. "More adolescents with less to do during their afterschool hours will undermine our most diligent efforts to halt this trend. This is a grave concern."

"The ripple effect of the reduction in state aid in Toms River clearly goes beyond the classroom," he wrote. "I respectfully request that you take whatever action that is necessary to address these concerns."

On Tuesday, Superintendent David Healy and Business Administrator William Doering were back in Trenton to continue to try to drive home the points about the damage these cuts will do.

"We aren't asking them to give us more money," Healy said. "We just want them to give us a break" while state leaders research some of the issues that people such as Doering have dug up that raise questions.

You can read the full letter below.

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