Toms River School Board Faces Tough Road As NJ Rejects Aid Application

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional Board of Education is starting 2023 with the school district facing a significant financial challenge, after the New Jersey Department of Education rejected the district's request for stabilization aid for 2023.

The school board held its reorganization meeting on Jan. 4, with Kathleen Eagan, Kevin Kidney and Melissa Morrison taking the oath of office.

Eagan won re-election to a three-year term representing Toms River, Kidney won re-election to the three-year term representing Pine Beach and Morrison won election to her first term representing Beachwood.

Kidney was elected president of the board and Eagan was voted vice president, but with dissent in both votes. Morrison and Michele Williams voted against Kidney in the 6-2 vote. Anna Polozzo was nominated as vice president by Williams, and Williams, Polozzo, and Morrison voted against Eagan. Jennifer Howe, Joe Nardini and Lisa Contessa voted with Kidney and Eagan, who was approved 5-3. Ashley Lamb was absent.

The board has its committee of the whole meetings scheduled for Wednesday, and a separate meeting of the board's budget and finance committee on Thursday as it dives into the work of the new year. Both meetings are set for 6 p.m. at the Toms River Regional Schools administration offices at 1144 Hooper Ave. The budget meeting is to include a presentation of the district's financial audit for the 2021-22 school year.

The meetings also will likely include discussion of the state Department of Education's rejection of Toms River's application for stabilization aid.

The state education department announced the stabilization aid awards to 42 districts on Dec. 23, hours before schools were shutting down for winter break. Nearly $30 million was distributed, with the state saying it prioritized applications based on equipment, supplies, technology, and furniture; purchase of school buses and other transportation costs; textbooks, if not requested and funded in Fiscal 2022 Stabilization Aid; and one-time security costs.

The Toms River Regional Schools applied for $5.236 million in aid, district business administrator William J. Doering said.

"We are obviously disappointed that we did not receive any stabilization aid during this application round," Doering said. "The NJ DOE distributed this aid based on what they deemed to be their greatest priorities. Our application sought funding for staff positions in order to keep our already-high class sizes from going any higher, which we believe should always be the greatest priority of a school district."

He did not say how many positions could be affected, but the Toms River Regional schools have cut more than 100 positions over the last four years because of the impact of S2, the law that has dictated cuts in state aid to Toms River and nearly 200 other districts the state has deemed to be "overfunded" under the state aid formula.

A lawsuit brought by several school districts, led by the neighboring Brick Township Schools, over the formula and the NJDOE's refusal to release key data about the formula, is still active in the courts.

The education department said districts applying for stabilization aid "were required to demonstrate how they plan to fund operations in future years when supplemental state aid is not available."

"Districts that received Stabilization Aid funding in Fiscal Year 2022 were also required to describe how they implemented their Fiscal Year 2022 stabilization plan and how they will navigate the remainder of the phase-in of Chapter 67 without the need for additional funding," state officials said.

The stabilization aid distributed in 2022 — Toms River received $7.6 million — was distributed with the goal of helping districts try to address the learning gaps caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Toms River used that funding to prevent staff cuts and bolster programs to assist students in catching up academically.

Doering has said previously that the continued state aid reductions will push the Toms River Regional district to a fiscal cliff, because of the state law limiting districts to a 2 percent increase in the property tax levy. Even at the maximum 2 percent, Toms River cannot close the gap between state aid cuts and the budget needs.

While critics say Toms River simply needs to bring its tax levy up, to increase more than 2 percent would require a referendum, and voters in the district's four towns would be highly unlikely to approve it.

Have a comment, a question or a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com