Woodbridge Gets $19 Million More In State Aid For '23-24 School Year

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — While large suburban school districts elsewhere in the state are howling at state aid cuts from Trenton, the Woodbridge school district continues to be generously gifted by the state Department of Education.

For the upcoming 2023-24 school year, Woodbridge public schools will receive $103 million in state aid, which is $19 million more than Woodbridge received for the current '22-23 school year, a 23 percent increase.

This year's funding boost comes after the DOE already gave Woodbridge 32 percent more in state aid than it got last year. In fact, nearly all the towns in Middlesex County's 19th Legislative District got state aid increases, with the Carteret school district getting a 13 percent increase and the Middlesex County vo-tech High School getting an 11 percent increase.

Woodbridge superintendent Joseph Massimino did not respond when Patch asked if he was happy with the increase, or what the Woodbridge school district will do with the extra money.

It continues to remain a mystery why some large suburban school districts receive state aid cuts from Trenton, and why other districts are given bonanza amounts of funding.

The amount of state aid given to local school districts can be a big factor in whether property taxes go up.

For years prior to 2008, the Woodbridge school district was considered underfunded by the state, and past superintendents and parents petitioned for the district to get more money. In 2008, the New Jersey Legislature radically changed its school funding formula, and the Woodbridge school district started receiving more money.

Again this year, Toms River, Brick and Middletown all saw cuts in state aid. The state DOE has previously said that school districts with shrinking student enrollment get less aid. However, enrollment in Toms River schools is up, leading some NJ Republican lawmakers to speculate that state aid is used by Murphy and Trenton Democrats to hurt Republican towns and school districts.

It's a charge the governor has denied.

"It is almost like the bean counters in Trenton are throwing darts at a map of New Jersey to figure out which districts get more versus who gets cut," Sussex County Republican Assemblyman Hal Wirths said last week.

"Brick loses seven figures in state funding a year. It is not sustainable," said Republican Ocean County Assemblymen Greg McGuckin. "All children deserve a thorough and efficient education, but Murphy’s budget and funding formula picks winners and losers."

Critics have long said the funding formula hurts suburban school districts, while rewarding urban districts. Newark public schools received the biggest increase this year, $114 million. However, Jersey City public schools saw a 27 percent state aid reduction this year.

Gov. Murphy released the state aid allotments for the '23-'24 school year last Thursday, March 2. Of the 577 school districts in New Jersey, only 15 percent saw state aid increases this year, of which Woodbridge was a part.

Losing the most are Jersey City ($51 million, or 27.65 percent), Toms River Regional ($14 million, or 31.77 percent), and Asbury Park City ($8.5 million, or 29.32 percent).

NJ School Aid 2023: Who's Getting More, Who's Getting Less

Brick Schools Hit With $2.5M State Aid Cut For 2023-24

Toms River Schools Hit With $14.4M State Aid Cut For 2023-24