Toms River Schools To Present Plan To Address $2.3M State Aid Cut

TOMS RIVER, NJ — With the ink now drying on a law that will strip millions in state aid from the Toms River Regional school district, district officials are preparing to reveal a plan to cope with the first cut to that aid.

The Toms River Regional Board of Education is scheduled to meet today, Tuesday, July 24, to present and formally adopt its plan to adjust the 2018-19 school budget that will now have $2.3 million less in state funding.

The meeting is set to begin with an executive session at 5 p.m. followed by the general meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Toms River High School North.

The district announced the meeting last week.

The district is losing $2,357,955 in state aid for the 2018-19 school year, according to documents provided by the state to the school district. Though the state Department of Education website lists the cut at $991,110, that number does not include the $1.4 million that was cut in the 2017-18 budget deal — money that was later restored to Toms River following an appeal to the state.

Tuesday's agenda also includes an approval for the district to apply to the state Department of Education for restoration of the full 2018-19 state aid reduction of $2,357,955.

The cut, however, is just the beginning. On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law the legislation that will cut $18 million in state aid from the Toms River schools over the next seven years. As part of that law, however, the district will be required to increase the property tax levy by 2 percent because it is seen as "underspending," according to a news release from Murphy's office.

"Any district that loses aid and underspends will be required to increase their prior year school tax levy by 2 percent until Fiscal Year 2025," the news release says.

The "underspending," referred to as "under adequacy" in the legislation, means districts are not spending what the state school funding formula has determined is necessary to adequately educate a child.

Toms River has been under adequacy going back to the 2009-10 school year, when then-Gov. Chris Christie dramatically slashed aid to schools across the state. The district has had lean budgets in the years since as it tries to balance educational needs with mandates and has been one of the lowest per-pupil spending districts in the state of its size.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Sweeney, takes effect in Fiscal Year 2020, according to Murphy's office.

"It modifies the current school funding law to eliminate adjustment aid as well as State aid growth caps and allows adjustments to tax growth limitations for certain school districts. The balanced approach will provide more equitable funding distribution through the school funding formula," the news release said.

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