Toms River Schools Lose $5.3M In Aid Under Murphy Budget

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Unless something changes drastically in the next 11 weeks, the Toms River Regional School District will be making deep cuts for the 2020-2021 school year, thanks to a $5.3 million cut in state aid.

That's the amount announced by the state Department of Education on Thursday, two days after Gov. Phil Murphy announced his $40.98 billion budget for New Jersey for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The cut is the result of S2, the law signed in 2018 by Murphy that set a schedule of cuts to so-called adjustment aid that a number of districts — including Toms River Regional — have been receiving since the School Funding Reform Act of 2008.

Under Murphy's budget proposal, Toms River is scheduled to receive $57,871,896, a reduction of $5,331,890 from the 2019-2020 state aid award. That cut comes despite Murphy's statements in his budget address about the need to fund public schools to provide tax relief to the middle class.

“Our public schools rank as the very best in the nation in large part because of our commitment to investing in classrooms in every community,” Murphy said in his address. “School funding is an investment in our future.”

"But, just as important, school funding is property tax relief," he said. "Let’s be absolutely clear – every new dollar in school funding is a new dollar of property tax relief. Every new dollar we provide is a dollar that doesn’t have to come out of the pockets of property taxpayers."

The $5.3 million cut for 2020-2021 is more than double what was initially projected as the cut for the school year, based on Toms River's 2008-2009 adjustment aid amount of $18,508,566. The Education Law Center, which in 2018 calculated the potential cuts, estimated Toms River would lose just shy of $2 million in the 2020-2021 school year. The total cut the education law center estimated was $19,773,568.

The total cut in aid to Toms River through S2 clearly will be higher than the amount of adjustment aid the district was receiving in 2008-2009, as the district has four more years of cuts ahead. Toms River is receiving $14,100,584 less aid in the 2020-2021 budget than it did in 2008-2009, the first year the School Funding Reform Act was in place. (Toms River received $71,972,480 in aid in 2008-2009.)

Because the cuts so far under S2 are so significantly different from the Education Law Center estimates, it's impossible to guess how deep the remaining cuts will be. The Education Law Center in January called for a halt to the cuts until state officials can take another look at the so-called formula the education department uses to calculate state aid. The state continues to refuse to release the formula and the methods it uses for the wealth calculations for each town, despite repeated Open Public Records Act requests. Read more: Toms River, Brick Seek 'Secret' Math Equation In School Aid Fight

Though Murphy also announced a $50 million allocation for "stabilization" aid, the process to apply for that aid will mean any funds Toms River might receive will not be available until 2021 at the earliest.

Last July, Toms River applied for emergency aid after the district cut 77 staff positions and eliminated 55 coaching stipends across the district, which serves more than 15,200 students. It did not receive a response until December, at which time the district was notified it would receive $854,634. District officials had requested $4.4 million in emergency aid.

That leaves the district with few options. Staff and program cuts are likely. Parents in the district have urged officials to consider pay-to-play for clubs and sports, which carries with it a whole range of issues, including students being unable to participate due to costs and, for sports in particular, added pressures on coaches regarding playing time because parents would be paying part of the costs.

The district may be forced to deplete its reserves, leaving it in a precarious position if there is a serious issue, such as damage caused from a natural disaster. The district has 26 buildings to maintain, including 20 schools. Following Superstorm Sandy, it spent hundreds of thousands to repair storm damage.

The district implemented a hiring freeze earlier this month, but that is just a small piece of what lies ahead.

Though advocates of S2 and some state officials continue to insist Toms River Regional's four towns are not paying their fair share of property taxes to support their schools, raising the tax levy to make up for the cuts isn't an option.

Toms River remains limited by the 2 percent cap on levy increases, and Murphy vetoed in January a bill that would have allowed some districts — such as Toms River — a waiver of the cap to bridge the hole created by the aid cuts.

Holding a referendum to ask taxpayers for permission to exceed the cap would not be possible until November — four months into the school year, and the district cannot budget for programs on the hope of funding being approved.

The cuts will push Toms River further away from adequacy, which is the amount of spending the state education department defines as necessary for a thorough and efficient education. A thorough and efficient education for all public school students is required under the New Jersey constitution.

Toms River has been one of the lowest in per-pupil spending among districts of 3,500 students or more going back to 2008-2009, when it was the lowest in per-pupil spending for the group, at $9,901 per student. In 2018-19, the budgeted cost per student of $13,582 was in the bottom 10 percent of the districts in Toms River's group.

Toms River officials have maintained the district is being punished for its efficiency. It spends $4,000 less per student, at $17,606, than the state average of $21,866, and is significantly under adequacy. At the 2 percent cap, it would take the district years to reach adequacy, if it ever were to get there.

The district has scheduled a public budget session for 6 p.m. March 25 in the media center at Toms River High School North. Toms River must submit its budget to the Ocean County executive superintendent by May 15 for his approval.

Note: This article has been updated to correct the difference between Toms River's per-pupil spending and the state average.

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