Westfield Schools To Get Large State Aid Increase

WESTFIELD, NJ — Public schools, and their students, can always use more funds. Luckily for Westfield's kids, numbers released on Thursday say that the district will get more state aid for the 2020-2021 school year than the current year.

Westfield school officials gave a preliminary budget presentation at Tuesday's school board meeting that included a projected 2 percent tax increase. The district did not yet have the aid numbers. A final budget will be up for a vote at the March 10 board meeting, according to the presentation. It will be sent to the county superintendent for approval, then will go to a public hearing on April 28.

On Thursday, the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy released proposed state aid numbers for every school district. A total of 193 school districts, or about a third, will see a decrease under his school funding plan (see list here). However, overall, state aid for all districts is expected to increase 3.8 percent next year.

Murphy's plan still requires approval from the state legislature.

Westfield is one of several nearby towns that will see a large increase this year. According to the numbers released Thursday, the district will get a whopping 16.92 percent more state aid for grades K-12 next year than during the current year.

A spokeswoman for the district said the school business administrator will address the numbers at the next meeting on March 10.

Most districts were only just finding out about the numbers Thursday as they hammer out their budgets for the next year.

Some will have to make up for a loss by finding other revenue sources (such as raising property taxes), tightening their budgets, or starting layoffs.

Those wanting to see the fruits of the students' and educators' labors can check out Patch's articles on school plays and other programs in the Westfield public schools by clicking here.